The Wonders a Friend Can Do
by forensicwitch5001
Summary: What if Harry had a friend on Privet Drive? Harry meets Cass Black, and together they explore the wizarding world. And of course they must occasionally ridicule how the wizarding world is run. Along with their new-found friend, Draco Malfoy, they will face Voldemort and struggle to escape Dumbledore's manipulations. AU.
1. Discovering Magic

Harry Potter was having an extraordinarily great day. How could he be having a great day if he was forced to do chores all day and then stuffed in a cupboard you ask? The new neighbors were coming over. That meant that Harry could stay safe in his cupboard, no worries about his Uncle Vernon being drunk and beating him. He did have an image to upkeep after all.

The neighbors arrived promptly at seven o' clock, just after Harry was herded into his cupboard by Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon was set on padlocking the cupboard under the stairs, but Aunt Petunia convinced him it would look suspicious. They wouldn't want to make a bad impression on the new neighbors after all.

Uncle Vernon told Harry that if he behaved he would get a slice of toast afterwards. A luxury for Harry, considering he only got what a normal person would call one meal a day. The 'meal' consisting of table scraps, which were thrown in randomly throughout they day.

Harry heard the neighbors head into the entryway and pass his cupboard. Dudley immediately did his 'I'm so perfect and sweet act' trying to show off, obviously on his parent's request. Aunt Petunia immediately started gushing about her 'Duddydumkins' polite manners, and Uncle Vernon started loudly commenting on how his work was going at Grunnings.

"Dudley dear," Aunt Petunia said sweetly, "why don't you go upstairs and play with your new friend." Harry heard two pairs of footsteps head upstairs, shaking a cobweb on the ceiling of his cupboard.

"Let's play hide n' seek," Harry heard Dudley say. Dudley began counting, and Harry heard light footsteps head down the stairs. The footsteps continued down the hall. And stopped right at his cupboard. He heard the cupboard creak open, and person slipped into the cupboard and closed the door silently.

Harry finally got up the courage to speak. "What are you doing in my cupboard?" he asked, trying to sound intimidating like Uncle Vernon.

"I wanted to find out who was in here," a girlish voice responded.

"How did you know I was in here?" Harry asked. He immediately clamped his hands over his mouth. The Dursley's number one rule, besides not doing anything freakish, was to never ask questions.

The girl in the cupboard pulled down on the light string after shoving Harry's blanket in front of the crack at the bottom of the door. The girl had long red hair with bangs framing her face and pale blue eyes. "I'm Cass Carson," she whispered. "I just got into the Carson family yesterday. I'm a foster care," Cass explained.

Harry bit his lip and pondered what to do. There was a strange girl in his cupboard, but she seemed to be nice. And it couldn't hurt to have some company for a bit. But if the Dursley's found out…

"I'm Harry Potter," he answered.

"Is the fat pig your relative," Cass asked, scrunching up her nose in disgust at the image of Dudley. Harry quickly stopped himself from laughing. He nodded. "You're abused aren't you," she stated. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. His eyes widened.

"You can't tell anyone, please!" Harry begged.

"Why not? They're horrible!"

"I've sent six anonymous notes to the police. Four to child services. Two phone calls for each. None of them were ever looked into," Harry admitted. Cass leaned over and hugged Harry. Harry flinched at the contact, and Cass released him. "Once one of the doctors found out. He went missing a day after reporting the abuse to the police. The police never looked into it."

He heard Dudley pounding down the stairs. "I'll see you at school," Cass promised. She slipped out of the cupboard and back into the hall.

Harry reminded himself not to be disappointed at school tomorrow when Cass ignored him. After all, nobody ever keeps promises they give to him. In science class, Cass was introduced to the class. After that, they started assigning lab partners. Harry prayed he wasn't with someone from Dudley's gang. It wasn't. It was Cass. She gave him a smile and passed him a slip of paper while the teacher was talking about they rules for fourth grade.

At recess he unfolded the note and was about to read it when Dudley's gang interrupted him. "Hey Freak, what have you got there?" Dudley asked, making a grab for the paper. Harry began to run. "Hey, come back here Freak!" Dudley yelled, starting the chase. Dudley wasn't very fast, but his friend Piers Polkiss was. He realized that he had hit a dead end too late. Desperately, he tried to climb the tree. Just as Dudley's gang was about to reach him, someone grasped his hands and pulled him up into the tree.

He was pleasantly surprised to see Cass. "Are you okay," she asked, puffing her cheeks out nervously. Harry nodded.

"Can you teach me how to climb trees," he asked, trembling slightly. She nodded.

"You need to find the cracks in the tree…" she started. By the end of recess, Harry could successfully climb a tree. And he just might have a friend. At lunchtime Cass sat across from him. Harry didn't have any lunch, as Dudley and his gang had pilfered it.

"Here," Cass said, causing him to look up from his staring contest with the table. She slid a sandwich across the table. Harry looked up at her. "Don't worry, I made it for you," she announced. Harry smiled and started eating the sandwich. "You're my first friend," Cass confessed. Harry looked up. "I've always been moved from foster home to foster home. I do weird things. They get freaked out and send me away."

"You're my first friend too," Harry confides in her, "and I do freaky stuff too. Once when Dudley was chasing me I somehow managed to get up onto the school roof. I've also turned my teacher's wig blue." Cass giggled.

"I caused the ground to go up and trip some kids who where chasing me. And once I turned Malcolm Anderson's hair red after he called me carrot top." It was now Harry's turn to giggle.

"Do you think it's the 'm' word?" he asked. He quickly saw his friend's confused face. "Magic. Maybe that's why the police won't help and all the weird things happen."

"Maybe. There probably would be a magic school then though, wouldn't there?"

"Maybe there's something about our powers in the library?" mused Harry.

"We'll check the library tomorrow," Cass agreed.

Unfortunately, their plans to go to the library were off. Dudley had tried to punch Cass. Cass just ducked and kneed him in the stomach. Dudley had let out a loud scream, much like the sound of a walrus dying, and the teachers had run over. Of course Harry and Cass were blamed for the incident. Now they were stuck washing dishes with the batty old lunch lady and babysitter on the side, Ms. Figg.

Washing dishes wasn't hard for Harry; he was used to it. Cass had pulled her fair share too in foster homes and orphanages. Together they were able to finish off the dishes quickly. Ms. Figg didn't do anything. She just sat there and stroked her cat, Mr. Fluffikins.

"She's barmy, isn't she?" Cass asked Harry mid wash. Harry nodded.

"Are the plans still on?" Harry asked, lowering his voice. Cass nodded in response. Ms. Figg got up from her chair and Mr. Fluffikins hopped off.

"She could make an outfit made of cat fur," Cass joked. Harry snickered.

"She could make a house out of cats," said Harry, continuing the running gag.

"She could swim in a pool of cats."

"She could…" Harry started. The bell rang just then. "Library," he whispered before they headed to their next class.

Finally, Harry and Cass were able to go to the library. They had decided not to ask the librarian for directions to a magic section of the library, she would certainly say they were barmy. Instead, they wandered around looking for any reference of magic. There was a false alarm when Harry spotted the Chronicles of Narnia, and when Cass spotted Bewitched, but soon they figured out that they should be looking for a hidden section of the library.

"I'm about to give up," said Harry, banging his head against the wall. Except his head went through.

"Harry," gasped Cass. Harry looked up.

"What?" Cass reached out and stuck her hand through the wall.

"It's an illusion," she breathed out, walking through the wall. Harry figured he might as well follow. He found himself in a huge room with crystal chandeliers and stained glass windows. And of course, there were several shelves of books spanning the entire room. Harry picked out the book closest to him.

"The Book of Spells, Grade 1," Harry read. Cass leaned over his shoulder to read it out loud. Harry sat down at a table and picked out another book.

_The most basic spell is the Levitation charm. The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa. The wand movement is swish and flick. The easiest object to try this on is the feather. Your teacher will be able to demonstrate._

"Cass," Harry asked. "How do you do the levitation spell?"

"Wingardium Leviosa," Cass vaguely replied, immersed in the book. Harry placed the book on the table and flicked his hand while thinking the spell in his head. The book floated upwards.

"You're supposed to say it out loud!" Cass exclaimed, "And most people need wands! You must be a very powerful wizard Harry." Harry blushed at the praise.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you can do it," he insisted. Cass gave it a try. She was able to do the spell wandless, but not wordless. After eight tries she was able to do it wordless as well.

"This is awesome!" Harry said, resisting the impulse to whoop for joy. "What's the next spell in the book?"

"_Alohamora_, it unlocks things," Cass replied.

"I'll try it out on my cupboard," Harry said solemnly.

"I'll look up some healing charms. We should also make a list of all the spells we want to learn how to do."

"Hopefully we won't be far behind the other kids at magic school." Harry glanced down at his book. Harry grabbed a pen from his book bag, and Cass took out an empty notebook.

"We should probably learn some privacy spells," Cass commented. Harry nodded in agreement. They assumed that Grade 1 in the spell books was equivalent to first grade, and organized the spells by grade. They agreed that the x would mean Harry could do the spell, and the * would mean Cass could perform the spell.

After a month of going to the library their journal appeared as follows:

_Grade 1_

_Wingardium Leviosa- levitation x*_

_Alohamora- unlocking charm x*_

_Lumos- lighting charm x*_

_Nox- counteracts lumos x*_

_Incendio- fire charm x*_

_Sponify- make object soft ?*_

_Diffindo- cutting charm ?_

_Colloportus- locking spell x*_

_Reparo- reparing spell x*_

_Avifors- change object into a bird x?_

_Locomoter- moves at will of caster x*_

_Locomotor Mortis- leg-lock curse x*_

_Petrificus Totalus- body-bind curse x*_

_Serpensortia- conjures serpent ?_

_Specialis Revelio- shows hidden magic secrets?_

Every day Cass and Harry would go to the library during lunch and pour over magical texts. They would talk about what they liked about the wizarding world from the books and have heated debates over what they didn't.

However, not everything was perfect. Uncle Vernon had began to beat Harry more once he mastered the healing spell. He didn't tell Cass that things were getting worse. He didn't want her to worry. But she found out anyway. She confronted him on the last day of fourth grade.

"Harry," she said, pulling him towards her house, "you're terrible at hiding things." Cass dragged him through the front door and she headed towards her room. Her room was small and pristine, and there weren't any toys. She kneeled down on all fours and crawled under her bed. She pulled out a large cardboard box and handed it to Harry.

Harry opened up the lid and gasped. Cass had obviously gone to a lot of effort. There were water bottles and soda cans as well as chips and stale popcorn and pretzels.

"I've been saving up so you can eat during the summer. You can sneak it in under your baggy clothing." Harry just nodded, feeling very grateful.

"Ttt…thanks. What ccan III ddoo forr–" Harry started.

Cass cut him off by giving him a big hug. "Just stay safe," she whispered into his ear.

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Harry's summer was a relatively quiet one. He did his long list of chores and went back to his cupboard in the evening. When the Dursleys didn't feed him he would use some of his secret stash. Harry longed to see Cass again. The spiders in his cupboard weren't good company. And neither were the despicable Dursleys.

On the first day of school Harry rushed into the classroom, eager to see his friend. She wasn't there. She wasn't there the next day either. Harry started to worry. He couldn't go over and knock on the door, for Vernon would give him a beating, so he would just have to wait.

When Cass finally came back to school she was sporting a black eye and was nervously nibbling her lower lip and pointedly avoiding him. Harry was quick to catch on, and he pulled her into the magic part of the library during lunch.

"You're being abused," Harry said. Cass bit her lip as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I did accidental magic in front of them. They freaked out." Cass didn't say anything more. Harry reached over and hugged her.

"I know, I know," he whispered soothingly. A few seconds later, she wiped off her tears on the back of her hand.

"Come on, let's practice some magic," she said, her voice wavering. After several tries at new spells they realized that magic needed to be practiced, or else you wouldn't be able to do it as well.

Halfway through the school year they finished the Grade 1 spell book and started on Grade 2. Harry's specialty was the disarming charm, which was soon found out after he blasted Cass into a bookshelf when disarming her of her book bag. Cass was able to get revenge with the dancing spell, and had Harry dancing all throughout the lunch period before she undid the spell on her very tired friend.

Harry became very grateful for the flower conjuring charm after he accidently decimated Aunt Petunia's prize rose bushes. He also used the reducing and engorging charms on the bushes and flowers, saving him from the beatings he would have gotten had he sheared the bushes too much or too little.

Cass's home life wasn't improving much, but she was just grateful she never had to live in a cupboard like Harry. They had finished the Grade 2 spell book, with the exception of the boggart banishing charm. And that was why the two friends were currently exploring the Dursley's basement at midnight.

They had finished scouring the basement for boggarts, with no results, and had headed back upstairs when they heard a whooshing sound. Harry held up a finger and headed towards the door. Two letters were sitting on the doormat. One was addressed to each of them.

"What kind of a school would be named Hogwarts?" Cass whispered, reading the front of the envelope. Harry snickered and broke the seal.

_ "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_ Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress" _

"What kind of a government puts all the power in one person?" Harry queried.

"What kind of person has the owns an owl?" Cass retorts.

"Well, I think an owl hunt is in order for tomorrow. Though I thought the wizarding world would at least be smart enough to send someone to explain to us where to buy our supplies and how to get to Hogwarts, and even introduce some magic to us."

She nodded. "Fair point. See you tomorrow." The shared a quick hug and Cass headed home. Harry slipped back into his cupboard and started down at the letter. Finally, he was going to be free of the Dursleys.

On July 20th, Harry and Cass had thoroughly searched the magical library for mentions of a magical shopping center. They were able to find out Diagon Alley was in London, and the entrance was the Leaky Cauldron. They were able to hitch a ride on a bus to the center of London.

When they saw the Leaky Cauldron, Cass wasn't impressed. "It seems like they want us to be mugged," she commented. Harry silently agreed. The Leaky Cauldron definitely didn't give a good impression of the wizarding world. With help from Tom, the bartender, they were able to access the Alley.

"First stop is the bank," Harry announced, and they headed towards the bank. He grinned at Cass when he saw the epitaph engraved in the stone. She grinned back. Their money would be safe with the goblins.

Cass and Harry had theorized that muggleborns were decedents of squibs, so they figured they had money in one of the vaults. They walked up to a desk and stood in front of a goblin that was putting the finishing touches on a picture of a house. He glanced up, surprised to see them standing there.

"We'd like to see if we have any vaults Mr. Ragnook," Cass said, noting the nameplate.

"Ragnook only, please. We will go and have you take your blood inheritance test." They followed Ragnook into a small office. He pulled out a shiny sheet of paper, a bowl, and a large dagger. He nicked Harry's finger over the bowl and stirred the blood in with a powder. Then, Ragnook poured the mixture on to the paper. The words came out in a strange language that Harry couldn't recognize.

"Mr. Potter, you own the Potter vault, the Peverell vault, the Gryffindor vault, and 1/3 of the Slytherin vault," Ragnook announced. Harry's eyes widened. "Here is your full list of properties and abilities." Ragnook began to mix Cass's blood while Harry looked over the paper.

_Harry James Potter_

_Potter Vault: 500,000 galleons, 459,667 sickles, and 245,650 knuts_

_Potter Jewelry (liquefied form): 89,098 galleons, 34,556 sickles, and 3,909 knuts_

_Potter Estates: Potter Manor, Godric's Hollow (national monument), and the Vacation house in Spain_

_Gryffindor Vault: 4,900,569 galleons, 2,345,667 sickles, and 1,234,560 knuts_

_Gryffindor Jewelry (liquefied form): 324,098 galleons, 323,456 sickles, and 35,666 knuts_

_Gryffindor Estates: Gryffindor Castle_

_Peverell Vault: 6,400,789 galleons, 3,456,789 sickles, and 8,324,001 knuts _

_Peverell Jewelry (liquefied form): 5,987,899 galleons, 1,345,656 sickles, and 34,679 knuts_

_Peverell Estates: Peverell Castle and Peverell Inn_

_1/3 of Slytherin Vault: 1,600,405 galleons, 435,000 sickles, and 590,000 knuts_

_1/3 of Slytherin Jewelry (liquefied form): 200,998 galleons, 198,740 sickles, and 26,009 knuts_

_Total: 20,530,997.7302 galleons (102,654,988.651 pounds or $167,604,799.97)_

_Ablities:_

_Parseltongue_

_Natural Occlumens_

_Natural Legilemens_

_Partial Metamorphmagus (able to change hair)_

_Air Elemental_

Harry looked over at Cass's sheet.

_Cassiopeia Pheonix Black_

_Black Vault: 757,050 galleons, 456,506 sickles, and 563,698 knuts_

_Black Jewelry (liquefied form): 2,345,669 galleons and 456,093 sickles_

_Black Estates: Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Black Manor, Alphard's Hut, Lestrange Manor, and Malfoy Manor_

_Lestrange Vault: 544,567 galleons, 563,008 sickles, and 234,466 knuts_

_Lestrange Jewelry (liquefied form): 567,987 galleons, 50,899 sickles, and 36,998 knuts_

_½ of Malfoy Vault: 345,098 galleons, 356,600 sickles, and 345,660 knuts_

_½ of Malfoy Jewelry (liquefied form): 345,668 galleons_

_1/3 of Slytherin Vault: 1,600,405 galleons, 435,000 sickles, and 590,000 knuts_

_1/3 of Slytherin Jewelry (liquefied form): 200,998 galleons, 198,740 sickles, and 26,009 knuts_

_¼ of Ravenclaw Vault: 560,009 galleons, 234,987 sickles, and 83,586 knuts_

_¼ of Ravenclaw Jewelry (liquefied form): 945,998 galleons_

_Total: 7,697,135.76268 (38,485,678.8134 pounds or $62,835,567.8)_

_Abilities:_

_Empath (also known as a type 1 seer)_

_Partial Metamorphmagus (able to change hair and eyes)_

_Natural Occlumens_

_Air Elemental_

Harry and Cass's eyes widened at the amount of money they each had. "Miss. Black, you are the only Black who is not incarcerated, dead, disowned, or married. That makes you the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Please put on this Head of House ring. You will be able to hold your seat in Wizengamont," Ragnook said, handing Cass a simple black ring. Cass slipped the ring on her finger and held her hand out for Harry to look. There was a Latin motto on it: _Toujours Pur_, always pure.

"Do I have a Head of House ring?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes," Ragnook replied. "However, your magical guardian is Albus Dumbledore. He sealed your parent's Will and holds you seats in Wizengamont."

"But isn't that illegal," Cass cuts in.

"Until Mr. Potter is of age Albus will be his legal guardian unless the Will says otherwise."

"May I please see the Will?" Harry asked. Ragnook snapped his fingers and a document appeared.

"Please touch the seal to activate it," the goblin instructed. The seal instantly melted at Harry's touch, and the paper unfurled.

_The Last Will and Testament of James Andrew Potter and Lily Marie Evans Potter_

_To Remus Lupin: we leave 650,500 galleons. We hope that you find a special lady one day who doesn't care about your furry little problem._

_To Sirius Black: we leave 1 knut, knowing you already have a fortune. If we are dead, that means Peter betrayed us. Please don't go running after him, and take good care of our son._

_To Alice and Frank Longbottom: we leave 70,000 galleons. I hope Harry and Neville become close friends._

_To Harry Potter: we leave everything else. We love you son. We wish we could be there with you. Make us proud._

_Guardians_

_1) Sirius Black_

_2) Alice and Frank Longbottom_

_3) Xenopholis and Fecilia Lovegood_

_4) Molly and Arthur Weasley_

_5) Minerva McGonagall_

_In under __no circumstances__ is Harry to be placed with the Dursleys. They hate magic and will most certainly abuse him._

_Witnesses: Remus John Lupin, Sirius Black, and Albus Dumbledore_

_Signed: Lily and James Potter_

"Dumbledork!" Harry practically shouted. "He was the git who placed me with the Dursleys!" Cass placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Can we go visit our vaults?" Cass asked calmly, turning the conversation away from controlling headmasters. Ragnook led them to a track and they hopped into a cart. The cart ride was fantastic, and even Harry had lightened up to the point that he was whooping on the sharp turns and throwing his hands in the air. They peeked into all of Harry's vaults, but only took money from one. They would have time to explore the rest later.

Cass was exploring her last vault, she had already taken a bagful of money from the Black Vault, when Ragnook hauled her backwards. Harry snorted. It wasn't like there could be anything _that_ dangerous in there. After all, they had to go past a dragon to get there.

"There's a piece of soul in your vault," the goblin said eerily. "In the cup." Ragnook picked it up and placed it in a bag. "We will destroy it for you. We will also destroy all other dark artifacts in your vaults. We are horrified that this object is in here."

"There is another piece of soul in here as well," Ragnook added. He ran his hand up to Harry's scar. "You have a piece of soul in you."

Cass, getting what Ragnook was implying, jumped in front of Harry. "NO! You can't kill Harry!" she screamed. Ragnook, to Harry's horror, fell to the ground and started laughing.

"Goblins can remove the soul piece. Wizards are very behind in technology," Ragnook said. He muttered some words and a black mist came out of Harry's scar and joined the other soul piece in the cup.

"Yes, wizards are very behind," Harry commented casually.

"You are an interesting human Mr. Potter," Ragnook said as they got back into the cart. Harry and Ragnook talked about goblin and wizard relations the rest of the ride. Cass was eerily silent the whole time, glancing over at Harry nervously. As soon as they got out the cart, Cass pounced on him. She gave him a big hug and buried her head against his shoulder. Harry heard her murmur something, but wasn't sure what it was.

They bid Ragnook good-bye and headed out onto the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley. Harry pulled out the Hogwarts list.

_"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon-hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)__ by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic__ by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory__ by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration__ by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi__ by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions__ by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them__ by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection__ by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set of brass scales_

_Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS."_

As soon as Harry finished reading, Cass went off in a rant. "We already did the book of spells! We know the spells for defense! The only books we haven't read are the Potions and Herbology books! And a pointed hat! How is that rational? Robes? When you duel some idiot is going to trip right over them. And dragon-hide? That's just inhumane! The poor dragon back at Gringotts! And what about clothes to put on _under_ the robes? What are we supposed to wear underneath, our skivvies? And nametags? We're surrounded by magic people! Hello! Use a spell to identify robes."

"I agree," Harry started ranting, "only three robes? Even if you're surrounded by magic you need more clothes than three sets. And a toad? Who would buy a toad?"

By they time they finished letting off steam they had made it to the Apothecary. After that they went to the bookstore. While the shopkeeper was busy bustling around collecting their schoolbooks, Cass and Harry explored the shop. Along with the schoolbooks, Harry purchased The Mind Arts: Occlumency and Legilemency, Different Magical Languages, and Elementals Through the Ages. Cass purchased The Guide to a Metamorphmagus, Seeing The Future and Past: Seers, and The Night Sky.

As they left the shop, Harry asked, "Why'd you buy the book on the sky?"

Cass smiled and replied, "Well, seeing as most of the Blacks were named after stars, I'm interested." Harry nodded in understanding and they headed over to Madam Malkins.

Cass was immediately spirited away to the girls changing area, and Harry was left to stand on the fitting platform next to a boy with slicked back blonde hair.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy announced. "I'm hoping to be in Slytherin. My whole family went there. I would _just_ die if I went to Hufflepuff. Which house do you think you're going to be in?"

Harry cleared his throat, ready to make a speech. He recognized the type. People pretending to be inferior because of their parents warnings. "You're father's a Death Eater." Draco's mouth gaped open. "You are forced to pretend you are someone you are not to please your father. Am I correct?" Draco nodded quickly but then he stiffened. "Voldemort isn't the only person out there. Neither is Dumbledore. There is no light and dark, there is only gray."

"Finished," Madam Malkins announced, and Draco stepped off the school.

He was at the door when he turned around. "Thank you. For telling me what I wouldn't admit to myself. I hope to see you on the train." And then he turned on his heel and left. Cass came out from the other side and went over to Harry's side.

"He's my second-cousin or something," she stated.

"Oh! I forgot! Malfoy!" Harry practically shouted. Cass rolled her eyes and steered him towards the wand shop. As they got closer Harry muttered, "Why do we need sticks if we can do magic without them?" Cass and Harry broke out into giggles.

The wand shop was dusty. Aunt Petunia would have gone ballistic if she saw the state of it. They were looking up at the high shelves stacked with boxes when a man appeared right in front of them. Cass jumped up into the air in fright and clutched Harry's hand. Harry was pretty scared too. They should really have people introduce others into this worl.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss. Black, you are here for your wands now aren't you." The creepy man was Ollivander, as Harry figured out by the nameplate. Ollivander flicked a stick, or was it his wand, and boxes came flying off the shelf. "Left or right handed Mr. Potter?" Harry held out his right hand and Ollivander shoved a wand into it, and then immediately snatched it back. After repeating this process several times Ollivander handed Harry a holly and phoenix feather wand, which let out a few feeble sparks. Ollivander glanced at it for a second then snatched it back.

Finally, Harry grasped a wand, and it let out magnificent sparks. "Aspen and dragon heartstring, slightly bendy, 11 inches," the wand-maker announced. Cass tried several wands, and was down to the last few in the store. "Blacks. Always had special talents. Try this one. Silver lime and unicorn hair, slightly bendy, 10 inches." Cass swished the wand through the air and it let out a blast of sparks.

They were about to head back to Privet Drive when they realized that they needed to owl the school. Where were they supposed to get an owl from anyway? They headed over to the post service and where met by a sight of hundreds of owls. Harry wrestled a brown and white spotted owl down from it's perch and attached their acceptance letters.

"That just reminded me," Cass said, "We should get a pet." They headed over to the pet store. There were hundreds of owls, but Harry was instantly attracted to the snakes. He headed over to their case and decided to try out parseltongue.

"Hello," said Harry.

"A speaker! A speaker!" one of the snakes shouted, and the other snakes quickly joined in on the chant. Some of the snakes started to beg to be bought by him, but their hissing was really giving him a headache. He glanced around the cage and spotted a small black, green, and blue striped snake. He held out his arm and the snake slithered on.

"What would you like to be named?" he asked the snake.

"You may choose for me," the snake responded. Harry hissed out several suggestions before the snake agreed on one. At the counter, Cass was already waiting, holding a blue and black colored kitten. She took Harry buying a snake better than the clerk. The clerk screamed and fainted. Harry just placed some galleons on the counter and they left the store.

"So," Cass asked, "what did you name him? I named my kitten Calypso. After the star."

"Slyther," Harry replied. "Short for Slytherin. And don't worry, he won't bite unless I tell him to. It's a good thing the clerk fainted or he would have had his venom removed." Cass's eyes widened, but then she accepted the fact that her friend's pet snake was venomous. Slyther curled up around Harry's stomach underneath his baggy shirt so the bus driver didn't notice. Well, it wasn't like the driver would notice anyways; they did hitch a ride after all.

They had bought parchment and quills in Diagon Alley, but though that they were impractical. They would only use them for assignments. They would take notes in spiral notebooks with pens and pencils.

The rest of the summer was normal, well, as normal as it could be for two abused and orphaned magical children. Harry was able to sneak out of his cupboard and into the backyard on his birthday. Cass met him out there and they ate a slice of cake Cass nicked from her foster parents' kitchen. While they were enjoying the cake, an owl swooped down with a scroll attached. They opened the envelope to find train tickets.

"Train tickets? To magic school?" Harry whispered incredulously. Dudley's broken watch, which Harry had rescued, struck 11:59.

"Happy birthday Harry!" Cass said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Harry blushed.

"Now all we have to do is figure out how to get onto platform 9 ¾," Harry said. Yes, that would truly be a challenge.

**AN: Anything you recognize from the book belongs to JK Rowling.**


	2. First Year

It was now the day the train left for Hogwarts. Now, it was time for Harry to tenderly tread the topic of how to explain he'd be gone for most of the year. Surprisingly, Aunt Petunia took it in stead, pleased that he'd be out of the house. Uncle Vernon wasn't so happy. He would have beat Harry except for the fact he would be in a boarding school this time tomorrow. So they gave him the ride to Kings Cross.

Cass had managed to convince her foster parents that she was going away to a boarding school for the gifted. They did suspect her "freakiness" was somehow involved.

Harry and Cass found themselves standing in between platforms 9 and 10, feeling pitifully foolish. It was only then that Cass remembered it said in Hogwarts, A History that you had to run through the brick wall in between the platforms.

"Run through a brick wall, really? Magic folks can sure be barmy," commented Harry, getting ready to run through the barrier.

"You'd think people would notice," Cass said, glancing around at the crowd. Harry nodded and began to run towards the platform–only to be stopped by a plump redheaded lady and her oodles of children.

"Packed with muggles of course!" the lady shouted, gaining the attention of several passerbys. "Why hello dear," she said, pretending to finally notice Harry. "You need help getting through the barrier? Ron is a first year too," she continued, pointing towards a lanky redhead with a smudge of dirt on his nose.

"No thank you. We already know how. May you please move now?" asked Cass, trying to shuffle past the lady.

"You just run right through the barrier," the lady continued, oblivious to Cass.

"Excuse me ma'am," said Harry. The plump lady stopped rambling. "You shouldn't be talking so loudly. And we don't need your help." The lady blushed slightly, but undeterred, grabbed his arm and dragged him towards Ron.

"There," she said. "You can head through together." Harry headed back towards Cass. The lady grabbed his arm again.

"Mum," said a redheaded twin, "we need to hurry."

"Or we'll be late," the other twin added. The lady just kept clutching Harry's arm.

Annoyed, Harry yelled, "Kidnapper!" and escaped from the crazy lady's clutches. Before he ran through the barrier, he saw a police officer running towards her.

Cass and Harry were putting their luggage on the train when the twins came over. "We're really sorry about our mum back there," said one of them.

"Don't know what got into her. She's usually pretty sweet," the other said.

"If you firsties need any help pranking someone, just let us know," the first one added. "Anyways, I'm Gred–"

"And I'm Forge," the other twin finished. Cass and Harry smiled and discreetly levitated their luggage onto the train wandlessly. After the episode at the platform, they were both fairly eager to find a compartment and have a quiet train ride.

They had just found a compartment on the back of the train when Ron slammed the compartment door open. "I'm Ron Weasley," he announced. "You're Harry Potter! Wanna be my best friend?"

Harry snorted. "First of all, you should have apologized for your mother's behavior. Second of all, you came in un-invited. Finally, how in the world do you know my name?"

"You don't know mate? You're bloody famous! You killed You-Know-Who when you were just a baby!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know who," said Cass dryly.

"And I know how you know my name. Did it ever occur to you that my parents _died_ that night?" Harry ranted. Ron didn't even have the courtesy to look guilty.

"Get out!" Cass growled. Ron just sat down and had the impudence to knock Cass's belongings onto the floor.

"Yes, get out Weasel," Draco said, standing in the doorframe.

"Go away Malfoy!" shouted Ron. "I'm already friends with the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"Then we must have many boys-who-lived," said Harry sarcastically. Ron scurried out of the compartment, unfortunately leaving his pet rat behind. Calypso jumped out of Cass's lap and swallowed the rat whole.

"Good going! Your pet just ate Weasel's rat!" said Draco joyously to Harry. "Anyway, I just gave the slip on Crabbe and Goyle. Dumb as people get, they are." He sat down where Ron was sitting before and picked up Cass's things.

"Actually," said Cass, "that was my pet, Calypso. And Weasel is a good nickname for Ron."

"Well, good going. Nice to meet you, I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Cassiopeia Black. You're my second-cousin."

"Whose are you? Sirius' or Regulus'?"

"Regulus. Do you happen to know why all Blacks are named after stars or constellations?"

Draco shook his head. "No, it constantly mystifies me."

"I'm Harry Potter," said Harry. Draco nodded.

"I met you at Madam Malkins. Nice speech by the way. You could be a politician." For the next hour they talked about the wizarding sport called quidditch after Draco lovingly explained the details.

They were munching on liquorish wands when the compartment door banged open. "Have you seen a toad?" asked a bushy haired girl bossily. "Neville's lost one."

"If I had a toad I'd try to lose it too," Draco muttered.

"Well, that's not very nice," said the bushy haired girl. She glanced over at Harry. "Oh! You're Harry Potter! You're in–"

"Yes," said Harry, "I'm aware of the fact that my name is Harry Potter." Draco and Cass burst into giggles simultaneously.

"Well," said the girl haughtily, "I'm Hermione Granger, and I will be happy to lead you around this new world. I practically know everything about it!"

"Actually," Cass piped up, "Draco would be the ideal choice since he grew up in the wizarding world. And if you want to be friends with Harry because of his fame you can get out of here. And have you asked a prefect to summon the toad?" Hermione left the compartment looking offended that she hadn't thought of the idea herself. The rest of the train ride passed flawlessly.

By the time the train reached Hogwarts the sun had already set. The trio got off the train and headed towards the boats with the other first years, where a giant was yelling at them to get in the boats. "Hi Harry!" the giant boomed. Harry jumped up in the air and felt several pairs of eyes on him.

"Sorry," said Harry nervously, "but do I know you?"

"O' course you do!" the giant boomed. "I was the one who brought you to the Dursleys when you was just a wee babe!" Harry looked properly mortified. He followed Cass and Draco into a boat along with a shy looking boy who was clutching his toad so tightly that it was quite possible it would burst.

The sight of Hogwarts looming in the distance caused several people to gasp. The beauty of the school was ruined however when Ron and his new followers tipped over a boat containing Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Daphne Greengrass according to Draco. They shrieked and spluttered and splashed in the water for almost two minutes before the combined efforts of Draco, Harry, and Cass pulled them out of the water. The toad boy did nothing to help.

The seven shivering children huddled together as they got out of the boat. No one even bothered to spell them dry. The ghosts floating through the hall didn't help either. They just caused the miserable bunch to get colder. If that wasn't bad enough, Hermione was loudly admonishing Ron and his lackeys for their behavior, and McGonagall came in and awarded points to her future house.

From the speech McGonagall gave, it was obvious that she was biased. She liked Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, tolerated Ravenclaws, and detested Slytherins.

"I hope all the teachers aren't this biased!" whispered Harry.

Draco calmly said, "My god-father is the head of Slytherin. He makes up for any points lost. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws are given fair points." After several minutes later of nervous waiting in which Ron Weasley loudly declared they had to fight a troll, the first years were allowed into the Great Hall.

Harry barely paid attention to the Sorting Hat, after all, the skylight was far more interesting. He only started paying attention when Cass's name was called. He smiled at her as she walked up to the stool, to nervous himself to say good luck. After a few seconds the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Cass headed towards the green and silver table, waving at Harry and Draco.

Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor, and so did Neville Longbottom the boy with the toad. Then, it was Draco's turn. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted without even touching his head.

Harry nervously waited for his turn. "Potter, Harry," said McGonagall. As Harry walked up to the stool, he could see Dumbledore's eyes twinkling madly.

'Ah,' said the hat. 'I know just where you will go!' "SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat shouted. The hall was deathly silent until the Slytherin table burst into applause along with the small clapping of the Weasley twins. Harry slid onto the bench next to Draco.

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Severus Snape was surprised, to say the least. He expected Potter Junior to be a stuck up brat who didn't know his ABC's. He would be sorted into Gryffindor and go around pranking innocent children. Yes, Severus Snape had been prepared to hate Harry Potter.

His hopes were dashed when Harry was sorted into Slytherin. Then he saw that he was talking to his godson. And Draco was smiling. Maybe Potter going to Hogwarts wasn't such a bad thing after all.

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Dumbledore was mad. And when Dumbledore was mad, well, steer clear. First of all, he had to bail Mrs. Weasley out of prison after she attempted to kidnap Harry Potter. He didn't think that she would be _that_ desperate. Harry was going to have a marriage contract with Ginevra after all. But that might not happen now. Harry was friends with a Black and a Malfoy. Two dark families.

Also, Ron failed to make friends with Potter. So did Hermione. Even his last resort, Neville, had failed. In addition, he found out that the Potter Will had been opened about a week and a half ago. Then, Harry was sorted into Slytherin. He was supposed to be in Gryffindor!

Finally, the last straw, Severus Snape didn't seem to hate Potter anymore. How was he going to reveal that Harry had to die in order to defeat Voldemort so that he, Dumbledore, could rise and become leader of the world? Things just weren't going Dumbledore's way today.

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"Dumbledore's mad," was the first thing out of Cass's mouth after his speech.

"Dumbledore's trying to get us killed. Honestly, forbidden third floor corridor? That's just asking for trouble," Harry added.

"And 'off you trot'? What are we? Horses?" The trio burst into laughter as they followed Marcus Flint and Colleen Darvis into the dungeons. Unfortunately, the prefects forgot the password to get through the portrait hole. Fifteen long minutes later, Colleen remembered the password. It was 'snake.' As soon as they stepped into the common room, Harry was at home. It was dark and cozy, just like his cupboard. They all sat on the comfy chairs and sofas while they waited for Professor Snape to come down and tell them the rules.

Snape glided in, robes billowing out behind him. "Slytherins stick together," he began. "If you have fights, have them in the common room. Slytherins are already believed to be evil. Make them believe otherwise. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff don't like Slytherins that much, Ravenclaw is neutral.

Slytherins must stand on a unified front. Never travel alone. Breakfast is at 7 for first through third years, no exceptions. Curfew for first years is 9, with the exception of when you have Astronomy. If you get a fair detention from another teacher, you will also be serving one with me. I expect my snakes to get decent grades. Don't disappoint me." With that, he turned and walked through the portrait hole.

The prefects pointed the students in the direction of their dorms, and Cass gave Harry a goodnight hug. Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, and Harry headed down the hall. There were two rooms. Draco, Blaise, and Harry played rock paper scissors for who would have to stay with Crabbe and Goyle. It seemed no one wanted to share a dorm room with them.

After the tournament, Harry and Draco headed to their dorm room, Blaise glaring daggers at Draco, who he had beat in the final round. Harry was surprised to find that his trunk was already in his room. He let Slyther climb out of his robe pocket and onto the bedpost. Draco was terrified to say the least. He started screaming bloody murder and cowered in the corner, holding his trunk out in front of him like a shield.

"Relax Draco," whined Harry. "Its just Slyther, my pet snake. Sure he's venomous, but he won't bite unless I tell him to." Draco didn't calm down and only looked more fearful. "I can speak to snakes," was Harry's final word before he hopped into bed. Draco looked appeased and settled down into bed.

"So, what was that hug with my cousin?" Draco said teasingly. Harry groaned.

The next morning Harry woke up at 6, ready to make breakfast for the Dursleys, only to realize he was at Hogwarts. So he curled up in bed and read his Potions book. 45 minutes later, Draco woke, and they headed towards the Great Hall. Cass was already seated and was looking over her schedule. Harry plopped down beside her. His schedule appeared in front of him.

"We have Potions with the Gryffindors," stated Cass. "What is Dumbledore playing at? Doesn't he know that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't get along?"

"Get along is an understatement," growled Harry, glancing over at a Slytherin and Gryffindor who were in the midst of a heated argument.

"My father's on the board of governors. He's complained before," said Draco. Ron Weasley and his sidekicks stood in front of them.

"My father this, my father that," said Ron in a high-pitched voice. The sidekicks laughed. Draco grew exceedingly red in the face. Luckily, Professor Snape happened to be walking by to attend to a homesick Pansy Parkinson.

"Mr. Weasley, care to tell me what are you doing at the Slytherin table? Ten points from Gryffindor," snapped Snape.

"I'm here to tell Harry he was supposed to be my best friend and be in Gryffindor!" yelled Ron. Everyone in the Great Hall was looking at them now.

"Detention Mr. Weasley. Don't go spouting lies in the future." Ron was left spluttering like a fish.

"He wasn't telling lies Snape," sidekick one piped up.

"Detention for you to Mr. Finnegan."

"Wonder what sidekick number two is named," Cass wondered out loud.

"Dean Thomas," sniffled Pansy Parkinson, still recovering from her bout of homesickness. "I heard his name at the sorting. He was one of those awful kids that tipped over our boat!"

After breakfast the Slytherins filed into the Potions classroom. The Gryffindors were openly glaring at them from across the room, and you could practically feel the tension. Then the door slammed open.

'"You are here to learn the subltle science and exact art of potion-making," he began.' "As–"

_Cough! Cough! Snort! Snort!_ Snape turned to glare at Weasley, Finnegan, and Thomas. "How about you three brew a potion and see how you do," he said. "If you brew it correctly you may undermine authority all you like. If you fail…the consequences will not be pleasant."

"He's going to make them scrub cauldrons," whispered Draco excitedly, causing the other Slytherins to start snickering.

"But you aren't making the slimy snakes brew the potion now!" protested Dean Thomas. Snape just sneered and continued on with his planned speech. After Potions, it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The class was a joke. Professor Quirrell kept stuttering and was afraid of his own shadow. Cass theorized that he ran into a vampire somewhere because his whole room smelled like garlic.

Transfiguration was after lunch. Professor McGonagall wasn't there. The Ravenclaws were mumbling about not having enough time to learn while the Slytherins badmouthed the Gryffindors.

Cass had spotted a tabby cat sitting unusually stiffly on top of the desk. She poked Harry in the shoulder and whispered, "McGonagall." Harry got the warning. Draco obviously didn't understand. He, along with the rest of the class, looked startled when McGonagall transformed back into a human.

The rest of the class was boring for Harry and Cass. They had learned how to transfigure a matchstick into a needle two years ago. Besides, who needed to change a matchstick into a needle anyways? Harry and Cass were the first to complete the transfiguration. Then they changed the needle back into a matchstick. McGonagall gave them each 2 points.

Draco didn't seem pleased. Not just because of McGonagall's clear dislike of Slytherins. He couldn't get his matchstick to turn into a needle all the way. It was just silver and slightly pointy. But his friends had completed theirs, and even reversed it!

Charms was next on the schedule. Professor Flitwick fell off his stack of books when he heard Harry's name. Draco and Cass gave Harry teasing looks, which he just rolled his eyes at. Harry and Cass made their feathers float immediately. Draco, sensing that they knew how to do the spells so far, poked Harry with the sharp end of the feather he was supposed to be levitating. Harry glared at him.

"You could have just asked," Harry mumbled. Then he began to instruct Draco. "It's all about intent. Just imagine the feather floating." Draco tried once more, and the feather lifted ten inches off the table. Flitwick came by and awarded Slytherin 5 points. Draco gave an award winning Malfoy smirk.

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Harry walked into the Slytherin common room only to find the whole house surrounding Cass, who was standing on top of a table. "Now, listen up, we all hate Binns don't we," she yelled. A resounding 'yes' echoed throughout the common room. "So why don't we get rid of him?"

"We can't," a second year piped up, "Dumbledore wont sack him. And the school board can't do anything."

"Well, I've been looking into ghosts. Has anyone ever heard of exorcism?" Several kids nodded. "Well, we should make a petition to exorcize Binns. If we get enough people to sign the school board might be able to get someone to exorcize him."

"My father works in the Department of Mysteries! He can exorcize Binns!" shouted a sixth year. Harry grinned. Finally, someone was going to do something about that stupid ghost who made everyone fall asleep during History.

By the end of the day, all the Slytherins had signed the petition. The next day, Marcus Flint passed the petition to his Ravenclaw girlfriend, who got all the Ravenclaws to sign the petition. The petition was happily signed by all the Hufflepuffs, who passed the petition on to the Gryffindors. All of the Gryffindors signed the petition, with the exception of Ron Weasley and his lackies (who wanted to sleep through class), and Hermione Granger (who thought that it wasn't 'nice' to exorcize a ghost, and the fact she actually found the class interesting).

Draco had convinced Professor Snape to sign the petition. Flitwick signed the petition because of his soft spot for the Weasley twins, and Sprout signed due to Neville's incessant begging. Professor Sinistra and Professor Trewalney were too busy up in their towers to sign the petition. Hagrid had flat out refused to sign, even when Neville softened him up by saying he was a great gamekeeper.

But the petition had enough signatures to pass. Binn was to be exorcized at the end of the year. When the news was announced at breakfast everyone started cheering. Except Dumbledore. He had to find another History teacher now in addition to the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Yes, he knew that Quirrell was being possessed by Voldemort. It was his test for Harry. All Harry had to do was hear Hagrid slip up about Flamel and Fluffy, and down the trapdoor with Quirrell he went! Too bad Quirrell would have to die. But whatever, it was a test for his golden boy, even if he wasn't in Gryffindor.

Harry was ecstatic when he saw the flying lessons poster in the Slytherin common room. Until he saw it was with the Gryffindors. Ron Weasley and his followers drove him insane. Lavender and her group could only talk about makeup. Hermione kept spouting off facts from random textbooks. The only Gryffindor Harry could put up with was Neville. Neville still had flaws. For instance, he was terrified by most of the Slytherins.

Flying class was going well until Ron Weasley decided to show off. He pushed his broomstick off the ground and started flying around the grounds. In hindsight, it wasn't a good idea to practice flying next to the Whomping Willow. Ron was scraped up and bleeding badly when he was levitated to the hospital wing on a stretcher.

The second fault: leaving kids alone with broomsticks. That could fly. Harry and Draco began racing each other on their broomsticks while Cass and Blaise cheered them on, Crabbe and Goyle just stared, and Hermione was shrieking that they would be expelled.

Harry and Draco were having a great time racing until Draco decided to stop for a minute to catch his breath. Outside of Quirrell's classroom. He let out whimpering sounds, which prompted Harry to fly over. Quirrell was talking to someone. He was going to steal some sort of stone for Voldemort.

As soon as they had a free period Harry and Draco ran towards the forbidden third corridor, Cass nipping at their heels. "What are you guys doing?" she panted, out of breath.

"We're stealing the Philosopher's Stone," said Draco.

"Technically we're just rescuing it from Quirrell," added Harry.

"Okay. Save precious artifact, I'm in," said Cass. Draco tried to open the door. "Oh, for goodness sakes!" Cass silently and wandlessly unlocked the door. The headed in to find a Cerberus standing on top of a trap door.

"Okay, how in the world are we supposed to get past a Cerberus?"

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The bushy haired Hermione Granger was in the library looking up magical creatures. The trio was obviously curious, as they had been researching magical creatures as well. Though they had done it in a more auspicious way. They had simply sent a note to Mrs. Malfoy asking how to put a Cerberus to sleep. She had responded immediately.

"Maybe Hermione knows," whispered Cass, who was huddled in the corner of the library with Harry and Draco.

"Why don't we just ask?" asked Draco.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Harry. "How did you get into the house of the cunning?" Draco wisely didn't comment. "We should probably do it tonight." Cass and Draco nodded. Tonight they were going after the Philosopher's Stone.

They thought it would be simple to slip into the third corridor. They were wrong. With prefects, heads, ghosts, Peeves, and Filch and his evil cat, it was practically impossible to go anywhere unless they were able to become invisible. They decided to wait until they could master the dillusionment charm. Harry and Cass were already on third year material. Too bad the charm was a seventh year spell.

Halloween was rapidly approaching. Hermione seemed to be more stressed, probably because Weasley and his sidekicks kept asking her questions. On Halloween they were all eating dinner in the Great Hall. Suddenly, Quirrell ran through the doors and yelled, "TROLL! Troll in the dungeons! Thought you ought to know!" He fainted forwards. Unusual. But then again, the trio knew that he was after the Philosopher's Stone. It was probably just a distraction.

"I hope the Cerberus bights his head off," commented Draco, "then I won't have to be in the same classroom as that garlic smell again!" Harry rolled his eyes.

"You a vampire, cousin?" asked Cass teasingly. Draco looked aghast. Dumbledore began to speak.

"All prefects escort your house back to the common rooms. Dinner will resume there," he announced.

Cass realized something glaringly obvious. She stood up. "The Slytherin common rooms are in the dungeons," she shouted over the din. Dumbledore seemed slightly mad that she had pointed this out.

"Fine, Slytherins stay here," Dumbledore said, like a little kid admitting defeat. Only later did they find out that Hermione Granger had been crying in the bathroom because Ron was insulting her. The troll had wandered into the bathroom and hit her with its club. She nearly died. Her parents pulled her out of the school as soon as she was healed and made a public announcement that Dumbledore was risking the life's of students. Needless to say, Dumbledore wasn't happy.

The trio had already decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Harry wasn't expecting presents when he woke up. He usually got a beating from the Dursleys and a bag of food from Cass. This year he had lots of presents. Draco didn't even have as many as he did.

Cass slipped into the boy's dorm to watch them open her presents. She had gotten a necklace from Narcissa Malfoy, chocolate frogs from Draco, and a copy of Different Magical Languages from Harry. Draco had gotten gifts from the pureblood families as well as from his friends.

Several of the people who gave gifts to Harry he didn't even know. One of the senders was Ron Weasley. He had bought Harry chocolate frogs. At Draco's advice, they headed to the library to find spells that could reveal potions and charms. Some of his admirers might not be admirers.

When they got back from the library, the trio starting casting the spells on the gifts. Most of them were safe, only six or seven were poisons. Ron Weasely's gift turned out to have obedience potion in it. It was a good thing Harry tested his gifts. When they thought they were done, an owl flew in the door. Great.

The charms showed up negative. The gift was safe. Harry opened it to find a cloak. "Blimey Harry!" shouted Draco. "That's an invisibility cloak! Wonder who gave it to you?" Harry opened the note and frowned.

"Whoever gave me this cloak wants to get me in trouble," Harry commented, passing the note around. Cass and Draco nodded in the affirmative. "But I think I know what we can use the cloak for."

That night the trio shuffled towards the third floor corridor wearing the invisibility cloak. Cass silently unlocked the door and they slipped inside. They yanked off the cloak as Draco started singing. They jumped down the trap door.

"Good thing this soft plant thing was here!" said Draco happily. And then the 'soft plant thing' began to squeeze them.

"It's Devils Snare! They're afraid of fire! _Incendio_!" shouted Cass. The three of them fell onto a hard stone floor in the middle of a room. Hundreds of winged keys were fluttering around the room. There were broomsticks in the corner, and Draco and Harry managed to corner the correct key. They shoved it into the key to find themselves on a chessboard.

"We'll have to play across," said Draco. "Good thing I'm a chess expert!"

"We have _broomsticks_," Cass pointed out. "We should just fly across." Draco seemed slightly put out but nonetheless flew across the chessboard. Cass and Harry followed on their own broomsticks. The next room contained a mountain troll. Luckily, Harry had learned some magical languages, and troll was fairly easy. He put the troll to sleep.

The next room was filled with potions. The exit to the troll room and the entrance to the next challenge burst into purple flames. Cass did the charms to reveal poisons while Draco read the riddle out loud. Harry was able to figure out which bottle took you forward. There was only enough for one of them, so Harry walked through the flames. As soon as Harry left, the bottle refilled itself. Cass and Draco were able to get through the flames.

The last test was a mirror. Draco tried it first. "I see my father, proud of me." Cass bit her lip.

"It shows your hearts greatest desire," Cass explained. Harry stood in front of the mirror and the stone plopped into his pocket. Mission accomplished.

The rest of the school year went by smoothly. Quirrell was found chewed to death by a Cerberus in the forbidden third floor corridor. His mangled body showed signs of possession. Dumbledore went to take the stone so he could finally live forever, only to find out it was gone. Meanwhile, Cass, Harry, and Draco had sent the Flamels a package.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Flamel,_

_We have found you Stone hidden in an obstacle course easy enough for a first year to get through. We are assuming Dumbledore took the Stone from you. Just so you know, a possessed professor attempted to get it. I suggest you safeguard your Stone better._

_Sincerely,_

_Cassiopeia Black, Draco Malfoy, and Harry Potter_


	3. Second Year

Harry didn't go back to the Dursleys that summer. He went to Number 12 Grimmauld Place with Cass. Little did he no that Dumbledore was panicking because the wards on Privet Drive had vanished.

The Black ancestral home was a nightmare. Mrs. Black's portrait was screaming bloody murder and there were decaying house elf heads lined up on the wall. Their first order of business was to take down the portrait. Cass and Harry took to it with jackhammers. Muggle devices did wonders. Next, Cass and Harry removed the house elf heads from the wall and buried them in the backyard. They even made mini tombstones for the elves.

While they were cleaning out dust bunnies, Cass discovered Kreacher. He immediately started praising her because she was Regulus' daughter. She asked him to tell her stories about her father. Kreacher said he would tell her the stories if she fulfilled her father's dying wish. To destroy Voldemort's locket Horcrux. Cass dropped the Horcrux off at the bank to be disposed of, and when she was done she gave the locket back to Kreacher. From then on, he cleaned the house, made delicious food, and told Cass stories about her father.

They hadn't gotten a reply from Flamel, and assumed he was just plotting his revenge on Dumbledore. Though it would have been nice to get a simple 'thank you.'

They were in the middle of dinner one night when they saw Kreacher tumble into the room wrestling another house elf. "Bad you! You is invading Mistress's house!" cried Kreacher, pinning the other elf down.

"Dobby has come to warn the great Harry Potter! He must not go back to Hogwarts! Bad things will happen! Promise not to go back to Hogwarts!" squeaked the elf.

"Should Kreacher kill elf? Kreacher's always liked a good beheading?" Kreacher asked gleefully.

Cass blanched. "No. Just find out which family he is from. Then Harry will decide what to do with him. He was coming here for Harry after all."

"Kreacher be doing that Mistress Black," Kreacher said, leading the struggling elf into an adjoining room. Cass looked at Harry.

"What do you think about this?"

"I'll write to Draco. He's from a pureblood family after all. He probably has had experience with invading elves before," replied Harry. He went to go write to Draco.

_Hi Draco!_

_ I hope you are having a good summer! Quick question, what do you do when a house elf shows up and starts giving you warnings? Also, do you know lots of the pureblood's elves names? This one is Dobby. Let me know if you can find out whom he belongs to. Kreacher, Cass's elf, is already on the case. Write back soon!_

_~Harry _

_Hi Harry!_

_ Dobby is my elf actually. Can we have him back yet? On an unrelated note, I found this really cool book in my father's study. I don't want to share it with you though. It's mine._

_~Draco_

_Hi Draco!_

_ Vicious much, cousin? What kind of book is it? If it writes back then you should get rid of it. And no. Harry decided to confiscate your house elf._

_Your very evil cousin,_

_Cass_

_Cass? How did you know the book…what was I saying?_

_Drom._

"I think Draco's demented," commented Cass, showing Harry the letter she had received.

"More like he took too many beatings to the head Mistress Black!" squeaked Kreacher.

Cass glared at the elf. Kreacher didn't take any offense. He knew she was kidding. "I'm actually really worried," she said, turning back to Harry.

"Me too," Harry agreed. Luckily, they were going to meet Draco in Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. Cass and Harry were so far disappointed with the Hogwarts curriculum, and were currently working on simple fourth year spells. Grimmauld Place was in walking distance from the Leaky Cauldron, so they didn't use the floo network. Harry didn't like the idea of spinning around in other people's fireplaces.

Flourish and Blotts was packed. It was a shame that they had agreed to meet Draco there. Harry was pulling out the supplies list when a blond-haired man with perfectly white teeth grabbed his arm. Harry did the natural thing when someone grabs you. He kicked him. Hard.

Gilderoy Lockhart screamed and ran over to a mirror to check his hair. Needless to say, the tabloid was taking pictures. Rita Skeeter could already imagine the headlines of the next newspaper. 'Gilderoy Lockhart Attempts to Kidnap Boy-Who-Lived.' Gilderoy finally got back from the corner after he composed himself.

"You are extremely lucky today!" Lockhart announced. Cass and Harry glanced at each other. "I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year!"

"What is Dumbledore playing at? Does he want us to get killed?" asked Harry incredulously. Draco came up behind them.

"He uses more hair care products than me," announced Draco.

"And that's saying a lot," Cass added. Draco glared at her. Harry finally looked down at the supplies list. He promptly ripped it in half.

"What?" asked Draco, grabbing the ripped pieces. His eyes widened. "No way I'm getting those books!" They walked out of the store after getting the books, minus the Lockhart books, and were heading to Madam Malkins when they saw the Weasleys. And Draco's father. Not good.

"You must be the Weasleys," they heard Mr. Malfoy spit out in utmost disgust.

Cass poked Draco. "Can I _please_ kick your father out of the family?" Cass pleaded. Harry motioned back to the confrontation, which was quickly turning into a fight. Arthur Weasley punched Malfoy in the face. Draco's father responded by dumping the Weasley girl's cauldron full of books over his head.

"Brawling like the filthy muggles," spat Draco, his eyes glowing a strange red. Lucius grabbed Draco's arm and they headed out of the store.

"What was that?" Cass asked worriedly.

"I don't know," whispered Harry.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Draco hadn't joined their compartment on the train ride. Harry noticed he slipped out of the Great Hall after the sorting. "Don't worry," said Harry, "I'll talk to him." Harry headed into the common room. Draco was sitting there writing in a diary. Harry snuck up behind him to see what he was writing.

_I'm losing my memory Tom! It happened just on the train. What's happening to me?_

**Don't worry Draco. Nothing will happen to you as long as you keep confiding in me.**

Harry immediately grabbed the book out of Draco's hands. "YOU!" Draco shouted, his eyes glowing red again. "Give it back!" Harry backed up and started running. Draco was following, shooting wandless spells at Harry's back that he normally wouldn't have been capable of doing. Harry found himself in the girl's bathroom.

"Slyther, what do I do?" Harry asked desperately. Before Slyther could answer, a giant hole in the bathroom sink appeared. Draco was nearing the bathroom. Harry threw himself down the grimy hole and ran.

"Open the chamber!" shrieked Slyther.

"What?"

"Tell the statue speak to me Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the founding four! Tell the master to give you some venom." Draco was rounding the corner.

Desperately, Harry said, "Speak to me Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the founding four!" A giant snake came out slowly. "Please give me some venom!" The snake replied by dripping some venom onto the ground. Harry slammed the diary to the floor on top of the venom and stomped on it. The diary let out an unearthly shriek. Draco collapsed. "I will come back later," Harry promised the snake, and he dragged Draco towards the entrance. "Stairs," he hissed. He then closed the chamber.

Cass was standing in front of the bathroom door, hands on her hips. "What in the world happened Potter?" she spat. Harry shrugged.

"Help me with Draco here," he said. She grabbed Draco's feet and they carried him towards the hospital wing. "Draco was being possessed by a diary. I think it was Voldemort's. It might have been a Horcrux. I destroyed it with Basilisk venom. I didn't have a choice!" Harry said desperately.

"That chamber can be useful for magic practice," Cass finally said. Harry dropped Draco on his head.

"What? You aren't going to yell at me?"

"No, I think running away from a possessed Draco was enough punishment." Draco chose this time to wake up.

"Which one of you dropped me on my head?" he asked angrily. Cass pointed towards Harry.

"But to my credit, I did save your life!" Harry added. Draco still didn't look pleased, especially with the egg-sized bump on his head.

"Well this was an exciting first day of school!" Cass exclaimed. Harry and Draco just glared.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

They returned to the chamber on Saturday. Cass and Draco were put in charge of cleaning the chamber while Harry spoke to the basilisk. "Hello," Harry said. "What is your name?"

"My name is Arma. My name means weapon. I am here to protect the school. I would like to thank you for saving me from the control of Tom Riddle. He made me attack the muggleborn students. Only a speaker may command me," the snake replied.

"Would you like somewhere to hunt?" asked Slyther, sliding out of Harry's robes.

"Yes. I would. There is an entrance to the Forbidden Forest in the chamber. There are also entrances to Salazar's personal lab and library, and an entrance to the Slytherin common room. There is also an entrance to the Headmaster's office."

"Thank you Arma. I will open the entrance to the forest for you," Harry said. Harry opened the entrance to the forest and the basilisk slithered out. He found Draco and Cass tugging on a giant shedding of basilisk skin.

"We should sell this!" Draco exclaimed, unaware that Harry was right behind them.

"We're going to use it as armor," Harry said. Draco and Cass whirled around. "Basilisk hide is most likely stronger than dragon hide. Dragon hide protects people from most spells and curses," he explained. The chamber was fairly clean by that time, so Harry decided to try and find the secret entrances Arma was talking about.

Draco pointed out that there were lots of snake statues, so Harry spoke in parseltongue to one of them. A deep hollow sound came out of the ground, and a section of wall slid to the side to reveal a giant library.

Cobwebs weren't draped over everything like they expected. Apparently, spiders were afraid of Arma. Harry reached out to grab a book on elementals. Draco looked at him strangely.

"Harry, that isn't in English," Draco said.

"It's parseltongue, genius," snorted Cass. Indeed, the entire collections of books in Slytherin's secret library were written in parseltongue. On the far wall there was a large tapestry covered with Slytherin's family tree. Harry traced his way down the wall and stopped on his name.

"Let's go," Harry said suddenly, and he opened a passageway back to the Slytherin common room.

The next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. They were headed to the classroom when the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs burst out of the room screaming about Cornish Pixies. They walked in to find Neville hanging from his shirt collar on the chandelier, several Cornish Pixies tugging on his ears. Lockhart was sticking out of the window trying to grab his wand. Cass and Harry started freezing the pixies, and they were all safely locked back in their cages.

Lockhart finally managed to retrieve his wand, and started the class by rambling on about how perfect his teeth were and making bad puns. Then, he handed out a 'quick' quiz to see how much they knew. Harry wasn't amused by the quiz. He saw Draco insult Lockhart's hair and then lean back in his chair to sleep. Cass was scribbling away. Harry crumpled up the paper and put his head down on his desk and waited for Lockhart to grade the quizzes. Harry glanced over at Cass's quiz and laughed silently.

**What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?**

_White, the same color of his unnaturally white teeth. Or green, because he makes you want to puke._

**What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?**

_To become the Sugar Plum fairy from the Nutcracker. He likes sparkles._

**What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?**

_Not being in prison for fraud._

**What would Gilderoy Lockhart's ideal birthday gift be?**

_A picture of himself._

**What place does Gilderoy Lockhart call home?**

_The Ward for the Insane in St. Mungos._

**What was Gilderoy Lockhart's defining childhood moment?**

_Being dropped on his head several times when he was a baby._

Luckily for this class period, Lockhart didn't let the Cornish Pixies loose on the class. Halloween was rapidly approaching, and Nearly Headless Nick was trying to convince people to come to his death day party. Which reminded Harry that his parents died on Halloween. He opted to skip the feast and go down to the chamber. Cass decided to come with him. Draco didn't want to miss out on the feast though. He had heard that there would be vampires.

Draco wished he had skipped the feast. Lockhart insisted on recounting his various battles…using the teachers as the ferocious beasts he was to defeat. Dumbledore didn't seem to mind acting, but Snape and McGonagall were tight lipped and wore scowls the whole night. The only people who enjoyed the feast were Lockhart's giggling fan-girls.

Meanwhile, Harry was reading a book to Cass, mainly because she couldn't read parseltongue. They were interrupted when Arma came slithering in. They shielded their eyes before Arma said, "Please tell me I can kill that annoying cat and that complaining cleaner. They don't even need to be here! It's a magic school! You kids have magic! Why can't you clean! Can I kill the greasy haired bat, or the long-bearded headmaster? Or the fraud? Please!"

Harry became stuck in a ferocious argument with himself on whether or not he should let Arma kill them. He eventually decided that Arma could petrify Filch and Mrs. Norris. The mandrake potion takes a while to brew after all. And while they are gone someone can realize their incompetence.

The day after Halloween, Mrs. Norris and Filch were found petrified next to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. However, a seventh year Death Eater wannabe decided to write a little message saying that the chamber was opened. The students were in full-blown panic. Cass and Harry were wishing they hadn't had Arma petrify Filch and Mrs. Norris. Why? Lockhart was assigned to escort them to their classes. Harry and Cass were left debating how incompetent the teachers were. They didn't even realize it was a basilisk cat that petrified the caretaker and his cat!

When Christmas came, Harry and Cass were surprised to find invitations to the Malfoy Annual Ball. "My father must want to hang on to the rest of his estates," Draco commented. Draco then realized that neither of them had ever been to a ball. And that was how they found themselves in the chamber practicing ballroom dancing. More like Cass and Harry were practicing. Draco was laughing his head off when they stomped on each other's feet. Finally, they managed to get a simple waltz. With only a few minor stomp on the feet.

The day of the Malfoy Ball, Harry floed over to the house in his dress robes only to have Draco shove him back through the fire. "You have to enter with your date," Draco explained. Harry looked confused. "The person you come with. My cousin, Cass." Harry went back through the floo. Draco waited patiently for them to come. Cass suddenly came through the floo. Draco was exasperated. "Where's Harry?" he asked.

"I don't know. Should I?" Cass asked. Draco was tempted to bang his head against the wall. Luckily, Harry floed back through the floo.

"You two," Harry and Cass heard Draco muttering as he led them through the vast rooms with marble floors. They were in front of the doors to the ballroom when Draco stopped them in their tracks.

"Lady Cassiopeia Black, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, and Mr. Harry Potter, Head of the House of Potter," someone announced. Draco nudged them and they headed into the room. Draco made an entrance with Pansy Parkinson and didn't seem so pleased about it. Harry and Cass began to dance as the music stated when they saw everyone else doing so.

"So," said Harry, "you look pretty tonight." He looked at her navy blue dress and curled hair.

"Thanks," Cass said brightly, stepping on his foot. The rest of the Malfoy Ball went off without a hitch.

Valentine's Day… not much so. Lockhart decided that bathing the Great Hall in lavish pink and sending cupids around to carry messages was a great idea. Harry didn't agree. Several cupids had started following him around, determined to deliver fan-girl messages. Harry finally sought refuge in the chamber. He vowed to get revenge on Lockhart.

The next day, Lockhart was bald and had puke-colored stripes running up and down his skin, and to top it all off, he had crooked yellow teeth. Harry had snuck into the DADA office through the chamber and charmed Lockhart's mirrors and portraits not to say anything about his new and improved look. Then, he slipped some potions into Lockhart's expensive homemade shampoo and soap and toothpaste. Harry also put some samples into his pocket for later. It was way to unnatural to look like that.

Everybody burst out laughing, and the Weasley twins tried to take credit for the prank. Snape looked smug, and as Lockhart ran out of the hall screaming he flicked his wand and the music serenading Lockhart began.

Lockhart had fled the premises after he managed to reverse the damage, and DADA was cancelled for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Dumbledore wasn't happy. Malfoy was supposed to give the Horcrux to Ginny Weasley so Harry could rescue her from the Chamber of Secrets and fall madly in love. And if he didn't, he could just feed him a love potion. All in all, it was just a test for his golden boy. But Malfoy seemed to have misplaced the diary. Someone else was opening the chamber. And to make it all worse, Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.

**AN: I finished the first and second chapter before I posted the story. The other chapters will take longer to be posted. **


	4. Third Year

Sirius Black had done it. He had done the impossible. He had escaped from Azkaban. He decided to go to his Uncle Alphard's cabin. No one would think to look there. After he got his strength up he would try to find Harry. He needed to catch up with his godson after all.

Meanwhile, Cass and Harry were enjoying a relaxing summer…hunting Horcruxes. They figured that Voldemort had made at least seven. That was the most powerful magical number after all. They had gathered some basilisk venom in case they found any.

They had decided to investigate Tom Riddle's earlier life first. Some digging revealed that he had gone to a muggle orphanage. The year after he left, the orphanage was mysteriously burnt down with everyone inside. Nobody ever found out what caused the fire. Voldemort's mother was Merope Gaunt, so they headed to Little Hangleton, because that was where she had lived.

Merope had married a man named Tom and fled the town. Years later, Tom came back and moved in with his parents. Seventeen years later, the Riddle's where found dead in their home with no evidence as to how they were killed. The gardener, Frank Bryce, was assumed to be the guilty party.

Merope had lived in the Gaunt house, a spooky place where nobody in the town would dare go close to. So that was exactly why Harry and Cass were going there. The towns rumors where true: the Gaunt house was creepy. There was a dead snake nailed to the door and wrapped around the door handle, and Harry opened the door with wandless magic.

There was a pedestal in the middle of the room holding a ring, thousands of snakes surrounding it. "Please move aside," Harry told the snakes. The snakes complied.

"Thank you for freeing us from this place," one of the snakes spoke up as they slithered out. Cass crept towards the pedestal and poured the basilisk venom onto the ring. An eerie black mist burst out of the ring and screamed before exploding. They headed back to Grimmauld Place.

Meanwhile, Remus Lupin was sitting in the Headmaster's office, watching Albus suck on a lemon drop. "As you may know, Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban," Albus said. Remus growled. "As you were once his friend–" Remus growled again. "I was hoping that you might know where he would go. Also, I would like for you to keep a watch on Harry. He lives at Number 4 Privet Drive. And would you like to take the position of the DADA instructor? I'm afraid our last one ran off." Remus responded in the positive to teaching DADA, and Albus popped another lemon drop into his mouth as Remus apparated to Privet Drive.

Remus Lupin looked around at the street. All the houses were identical. He headed towards Number 4 and knocked. An irate Petunia Dursley opened the door. "What?" she snapped.

"I'm here to see your nephew, Harry," Remus said, ignoring Petunia's clucking in disapproval.

"Well, you can check elsewhere. The freak decided to run off with someone. Have fun looking," Petunia said shrilly, and promptly closed the door in Remus' face. Remus panicked. Sirius Black must have taken Harry! Now, if he were Sirius Black where would he go?

Said criminal in question was currently headed towards Grimmauld Place. He had realized that Remus might know about his Uncle Alphard's cabin. But he would never guess that Sirius would go back to Grimmauld Place! To be honest, Sirius didn't want to go back. But he was a criminal on the run. An innocent criminal at that.

He opened the door to Grimmauld Place and promptly shut it. And then opened it again. It wasn't at all like he remembered. There were no house elf heads lining the entry hall, and the ugly troll umbrella stand was gone. The house was painted in a cheery yellow, and there was the sound of laughter echoing throughout the house. Heading right towards Sirius.

Harry and Cass had been in the middle of an Exploding Snap tournament, in which Cass had blown off her eyebrows, when the ward alarms were triggered, showing that someone had entered the house. They headed towards the front hall to find Sirius Black.

Sirius Black was surprised to say the least when two kids tied him up. One had long red hair and was missing her eyebrows, and the other…looked surprisingly like James. "It was Peter Pettigrew!" he shouted, desperately. Hopefully they wouldn't know how to contact the DMLE. "He's missing a finger! He can transform into a rat!" Sirius couldn't help staring at the girl's missing eyebrows.

Cass waved her hand and her eyebrows re-grew. Sirius gaped. Cass and Harry smirked. "You mean Ron Weasley's rat which my pet cat Calypso ate first year?" Sirius just kept gaping.

"Well," said Harry, "it does make sense that he is innocent. If he blasted the street Pettigrew shouldn't have something as big as a finger left." He released Sirius. "Welcome to Grimmauld Place. I'm Harry Potter and this is my best friend, Cassiopeia Black."

Cass stuck her tongue out at Harry. "Call me Cass," she added.

"I'm your father?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"No. My uncle."

"Regulus," Sirius whispered and he collapsed into a chair that Harry conjured. "And Harry, you're my godson." Harry nodded.

"I know," Harry said.

"What have you been up to all these years?" Sirius asked. Harry and Cass launched into the long tale.

Remus was frustrated. Dumbledore's gargoyle wasn't opening to any of the wizarding candy passwords! "LEMON DROPS!" Remus finally shouted, kicking the gargoyle. He unceremoniously tumbled down the stairs and in front of the office door. He didn't bother to brush himself off, and instead headed inside. "He's at his Uncle Alphard's cabin!" he shouted breathlessly.

Dumbledore hummed and sucked on a lemon drop. "Have you considered tidying up, Remus?" Albus asked.

"Albus, I'm serious," Remus said. Albus jumped out of his chair.

"Sirius Black! You must not–" Albus started.

"No! It's just me, Remus. I meant that Sirius is most likely staying at his Uncle Alphard's cabin!" Dumbledore nimbly jumped out of his chair.

"Then I must take some lemon drops with me on this exciting excursion!" Remus started to think that Dumbledore had lost his mind. How was capturing a mass murderer and 'exciting excursion'? Yes, Remus decided. Dumbledore was slowly losing his mind with old age. He still was the leader of the light though. And was a brilliant wizard. Maybe it just had to do with eating to many lemon drops?

They apparated to the cabin. Dumbledore and Remus drew their wands and blasted the door in–to find an empty cabin. Remus Lupin glanced around. "Sirius was definitely here," he said, pointing to the newspaper on the counter dated a week after his escape.

"Aye," said Dumbledore, "an old man's mistake. He must have known that you knew about the cabin. He must be hiding in the forest somewhere. Hopefully he hasn't killed Harry yet. We best be getting back to Hogwarts. School will be starting soon."

"I'll go back to my own place," Remus said, and he dissapparated.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Cass and Sirius were in the midst of an argument. Sirius wanted to go to school in his animagus form. "But nobody will know it's me!" Sirius argued.

"But it's dangerous!" Cass protested.

"So is breaking out of Azkaban! And being confined to this house for the rest of my life! Really! It's detrimental for my health."

"Look," said Harry, walking into the room, "nobody will know it's him. He'd go insane if he were locked up in the house. _And_," Harry stressed, "he could teach us to become animagi. Why don't you want Sirius to come? It's not like you're afraid of his animagus form or something?"

Cass stiffened. "I have to go," she said hurriedly, rushing out of the room.

"Do you think she's scared of dogs?" Sirius asked skeptically. Harry shrugged. "Well, there's one way to find out!" Sirius transformed and bounded up the stairs. They hadn't come down for a few minutes, so Harry went upstairs. He found Cass crying in the corner while Sirius was wagging his tail on the opposite side of the room.

"Transform back Sirius," Harry asked, and Sirius transformed. Cass kept crying though. "Maybe you should leave," suggested Harry. Sirius left the room. Cass didn't look as scared, but she was still very upset. "Are you afraid of dogs?" asked Harry. Cass nodded. "Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Cass. And Harry let her be. For the rest of the summer, Cass was constantly jumpy around Sirius, as if he was suddenly going to turn into his dog form. Harry had even christened the animagus form 'Snuffles' for school. This still didn't help. Sirius was upset that his niece was avoiding him intentionally, and was hoping that she'd be less scared around him soon.

Harry and Cass joined Draco in a compartment containing a shabby looking man. Sirius had ridden with the pets due to Cass's fear of dogs, much to his chagrin. "What do you reckon his name is?" Draco asked.

"His initials are RJL. He must be the new professor. I feel sort of sorry for him. He isn't going to last that long," said Cass.

"Yeah," added Draco, "he looks like he could fall apart if a gust of wind hit him." After catching up on each other's summers, they started playing exploding snap. Then the train came to a sudden halt. The lights went off. Harry cupped his hands together and cast a wandless light charm. Ronald Weasley had opened the compartment door and was cowering in the corner.

"Dementors!" he kept saying over and over again. The professor took his time to wake up from his nap, opting to wait for the dementor to press up against the door. "Take Potter!" Ron screeched. "He's Sirius Black in disguise! Please don't take my soul! It isn't my day to die!"

The compartment was filled with a silver film of light as the dementor floated away. "Technically you wouldn't die," Cass announced cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. Harry could see light tear tracks running down her cheeks though. Harry didn't feel very cheerful either. He had heard someone screaming and saw a flash of green light, and was about to faint when the dementor was warded off.

"Ugh! It's you. I'm getting out of here!" Ron said, running out of the compartment.

"That's the nicest he's ever been!" Draco exclaimed. The professor handed them each a chocolate bar.

"Here," he said, "it will help."

"You're awake!" shrieked Draco. Apparently, Draco was more affected by the dementor than they had thought. The professor nodded.

"You should probably get changed into your robes," the new DADA teacher said, "we'll be reaching Hogwarts soon." The three Slytherins went to the bathrooms to change. The Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogwarts by that time. The horseless carriages brought them to the castle.

Dumbledore decided to make an announcement. "As Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, dementors from Azkaban will be placed around the school grounds for your protection. I must warn you that invisibility cloaks and disillusionment charms don't work on dementors. And, without further ado, I would like to present our new DADA instructor, Professor Lupin."

That night, Sirius found himself transported to the Slytherin dorms. Harry and Draco came into the room. "You're in Slytherin!" Sirius shrieked, turning back into human form. Draco screamed.

"Relax Draco, you know he's innocent," Harry said.

"But I wasn't expecting your _dog_ to be him!" Draco said indignantly.

"Hey," said Sirius, "why are you in the Slytherin dorms?"

"He's in Slytherin, stupid," said Draco flatly.

"Draco, I wouldn't call someone who just recently escaped from Azkaban _stupid_."

"You're in Slytherin," Sirius repeated. Harry nodded. "I need to faint." And Sirius fainted. When he woke up he said, "I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting…"

"Me to be in Slytherin," Harry finished. "We're just ambitious, not evil. The only reason people in Slytherin followed Voldemort was because they didn't have a choice. They would be considered evil either way. And Slytherin didn't like muggles, yes. But his time period was different. Muggles weren't very sanitary back then, and there was the added bonus that witches and wizards were burnt at the stake." Sirius had a lot to think about.

Remus Lupin glanced towards the Gryffindor table, looking for Harry. He wasn't there. Sirius most likely had him captured. Though it was possible that Harry was just in the hospital wing, and that he'd see him in class tomorrow.

Remus sat in the DADA classroom waiting for the Gryffindors and Slytherins to come in. Honestly, that wasn't very good; Slytherins detested Gryffindors and visa versa. He looked around at the seated class. He spotted the trademark Weasley hair surrounded by two others. Neither of them were Harry.

The Gryffindor girls were talking about the latest fashion and doing each others hair. One of the Slytherin girls was sitting with two Slytherin boys, all of them staring dumbly at the ceiling. Probably Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson. Remus had known them in school. Three of the girls were giggling over Witch Weekly. The other three Slytherins weren't there.

Just as class was about to begin, a pretty red-headed girl burst into the classroom. "Sorry I'm late Professor," she said. "My friends are in the hospital wing. They decided to try and learn the Patronus charm, and wound up knocking themselves out." In truth, they had been up the whole night stealing the ingredients for the animagus brewing potion. However, Cass stunk at potions, and Harry, Draco, and Sirius thought it wise to think of a cover up. She would want to help make the potion if she knew. Remus nodded.

"Alright class," he said, "today we will be studying boggarts. Can anyone tell me what a boggart is? Weasley?" Ron had inadvertently raised his hand in the air during one of his exuberant hand gestures. His mouth gaped open.

"Uh," Ron eloquently said.

"Boggarts are a creature that shows your greatest fear. If there are several people in the room the boggart won't know what to turn into. The incantation to get rid of them is _Riddikulus_," the redheaded girl said.

"Ten points to Slytherin, Miss…" Remus said.

"Black. Cassiopeia Black," Cass said. Remus froze. Cass rolled her eyes. "Daughter of Regulus Black." Remus relaxed a little. Just then, the Malfoy heir burst into the classroom, a boy who resembled James just on his heels.

"Sorry we're late Professor Lupin, we decided to try the Patro–" Draco started.

"I've already heard," said Lupin. "May I see you two after class?" After going over more magical creatures, class was dismissed. Cass gave a glance at her fellow Slytherins and slid out of the room. "What are your names? You are very ambitious. It's not often that someone tries to produce the Patronus charm. I would like to help you, if possible."

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said.

"Harry Potter," Harry said. Remus stared at him.

"You're alive!" Remus exclaimed.

"I'm aware," said Harry dryly.

"But your aunt said that you went off with someone…" Remus trailed off.

"Yes, I did. I left Privet Drive after I got my Hogwarts letter…with my friend Cass." Remus leaned over and hugged Harry. "Do I know you?" Harry asked, trying to escape from Remus' grasp.

"Yes," Remus replied, "I was one of your father's friends. Unfortunately, that traitor Black was among them."

"We should get to Transfiguration. McGonagall will skin us alive if we're late," said Draco.

After the end of lessons that day, a fuming Cass greeted Harry and Draco. "Guess who they haven't exorcized yet?" she said angrily.

"Let me guess," said Draco sarcastically, "Binns."

"Apparently, the ministry is too corrupt to actually send someone out here to exorcize him."

"Hey," said Harry, "I wonder what a basilisk's glare could do to a ghost?" The next day Binns was nowhere to be found. He had gone on to his next great adventure–to bore others with history in the afterlife.

Sirius was very excited to be at Hogwarts. Nobody knew about his animagus form, with the exception of Pettigrew (who was dead), and Lupin (who he didn't know was teaching at Hogwarts as he had never told Harry about their original names, only their nicknames).

Every morning he followed Harry and Draco down to the chamber of secrets to help them prepare the animagus potion. Harry had even offered him the chance to meet Arma. Sirius had no desire to meet a basilisk.

He had decided to follow his godson and Malfoy around the castle. He alternated between days. He didn't follow Cass because he knew she was afraid of dogs. He didn't go to the classes though. On this particular day, he was following Harry. Harry had just gone into the bathroom, so Sirius decided to sneak into the open office near the bathroom. Little did he know that it was the DADA office.

Remus Lupin was grading papers when he saw a black dog come into the room. "Sirius," Remus breathed, grabbing his wand. He grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his fur and bound him with an _incarcerous_.

"Just what are you doing to Snuffles?" asked Harry coming into the room.

"Your dog is Sirius Black! How come he hasn't murdered you yet?"

"Because he's innocent."

"He's brainwashed your mind. Don't think that what he told you was true." Harry unbound Sirius and he transformed.

"Remus, I didn't do it. Pettigrew was the secret keeper. We switched, I thought that everyone would think it was me, nobody would think of going after the little rat. I confronted him in the street when he started yelling about how I betrayed Lily and James. He cut off his finger and blew up the street, and then transformed into a rat and fled through the sewers," Sirius said. "I swear I am telling the truth on my life."

After Sirius didn't drop down dead, Remus asked, "Then why did you laugh?"

"You know I always laugh when I'm upset." The two of them embraced. "Good to have you back Moony."

"You too Padfoot, you too."

The Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff quidditch game was the new topic going around the school. The Gryffindors had a new seeker: Dennis Creevey. The Ravenclaws were cheering for Hufflepuff, and the Slytherins couldn't care less. Despite the fact that Harry thought quidditch was dangerous, he found himself dragged to the stands by Draco.

Cass was lucky enough to have a seer learning session with Trewalney. Draco and Harry had opted for Ancient Runes, seeing as you had to actually have the gift to be a seer. And even if you _were_ a seer and took Divination it didn't help you learn a thing. The only reason Trewalney taught was because of the prophecy, but nobody knew that but Dumbledore and Snape.

Draco was cheering loudly for the Hufflepuff team, he despised Ron Weasley, and Ron was a Gryffindor. Harry was reading a book on wizarding laws. He was flipping the page when he felt a cold chill slide over him. Dementors. Luckily, the teachers were able to ward them off. Cedric Diggory didn't seem to notice the dementors though. He caught the snitch from right under Dennis' nose.

Hogsmeade weekend quickly approached. Even though Cass and Harry didn't have anyone to sign their permission slips, that didn't stop them from going to Hogsmeade. The snuck in under the invisibility cloak. Draco met them in the Three Broomsticks.

"So, what have you learned from the old bat?" asked Draco.

"I'm learning to sense other people's smaller emotions," replied Cass.

"I wonder what Weasley's thinking?"

"I can't tell _what_ they're thinking, I only know the emotion they are feeling."

"Anyways," said Harry, "we finished the animagus potion."

"What! You guys did it without me!" shrieked Cass.

"Well," said Draco, "you stink at potions."

"I guess I do," said Cass.

That night after dinner, they went down to the chamber to take their animagus revealing potions. They would go into a trance and see the animal that they would become. They each woke up with a splitting headache, the side effect of the animagus potion. "Are you a ferret?" asked Cass teasingly to Draco. Draco gulped. "What are you Harry?"

"I'm a falcon," Harry replied happily. "What about you?"

"Cat," replied Cass.

"Well that explains why you don't like dogs!" Draco exclaimed. Cass bit her lip.

"No, that's not why I'm afraid of dogs. One of my foster homes, they had a dog. My foster parents suspected that the dog had rabies. They were going to take him to the doctor when I did some accidental magic. They forgot about the dog and locked me outside. He bit me. It was only after I collapsed at school that someone realized I had rabies. I was taken to the hospital to be given the vaccine and then put in an orphanage. They weren't able to catch the dog quickly enough–it bit four other people. They all got the vaccine. I've been afraid of dogs ever since. It was a black dog, like Sirius."

"Now we just have to worry about Sirius' reaction to you being a cat!" said Draco, trying to lighten the mood. Cass didn't feel any better. They were heading to the Great Hall when they heard a commotion. They ran towards the sound. A first year student was lying on the grounds just outside of the building. They had been kissed.

Fudge tried to cover up the fact that one of the Hogwarts students had been kissed due to his placing the dementors there, but it got out when the devastated parents gave an interview to Rita Skeeter.

**First Year Amanda Martel Kissed at Hogwarts. Is Hogwarts Safe For Your Children? Does Fudge Have Your Best Interests at Heart?**

_Rita Skeeter_

_Rita Skeeter, the attractive renowned writer of many riveting front-page stories was surprised to have a requested interview with Nellie and Carl Martel. The reason was soon revealed. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Amanda Martel (see picture in left hand corner), was kissed by a dementor on Sunday evening. Her parents are devastated by the loss. _

_With further digging it was revealed that the Minister of Magic ordered the dementors to guard Hogwarts from Sirius Black. With some more digging, it turned out that Sirius Black never got a trial. Which raises these questions: Why didn't they just place aurors at Hogwarts? How come Black didn't get a trial? We are still waiting for Fudge's reply._

_"We are horrified that Fudge allowed dementors onto school property," said Daniel Greengrass, Head of the Greengrass family, "Daphne and Astoria go to Hogwarts. I do not want to risk my children getting hurt. If the dementors are not pulled from the school immediately, I will be sending my daughters to Beauxbatons. I seriously hope that the Martel's bring up a case in court._

**Mass Murderer Sirius Black to be Given a Trial…13 Years Late**

_Rita Skeeter_

_ The attractive journalist Rita Skeeter, who has punctured many stories with her quill, is ready to tell the full story on Sirius Black. Sirius Orion Black was the eldest son of Orion and Walburga Black. He had a younger brother named Regulus who was in Slytherin. Sirius Black was expected to be a Slytherin, and instead he was placed in Gryffindor. He was friends with Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Remus Lupin. He first showed signs of turning to the dark in his fifth year when he tried to kill a fellow student, Severus Snape by feeding him to his werewolf friend Remus Lupin. _

_The Potters told people that he was made the secret keeper. He apparated in front of muggles and confronted Peter Pettigrew. Peter yelled about betraying Lily and James before Black blew up the street. He was sent to Azkaban without a trial; the aurors snapped his wand immediately._

**Cornelius Fudge, Supports You-Know-Who or Dumbledore?**

****_Rita Skeeter_

_ Faithful readers of Rita Skeeter, she is back! The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was a Slytherin in Hogwarts. Yes, that's right! Your Minister of Magic was in Slytherin! He originally worked for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes as Junior Minister. In 1990 he was elected the Minister of Magic. He frequently wrote to Albus Dumbledore for advice. However, he supports the pureblood supremacy. He allowed Death Eaters to bribe him so that he would have influence in the vote. So that leads me to ask: Does Fudge have your best interests in heart? Who is he supporting? Leader of the light or leader of the dark?_

On a bright Saturday morning, Sirius Black was escorted to the Ministry of Magic for his trial. Ted Tonks was his lawyer due to Andromeda's constant nagging. Amelia of Bones was the judge. Sirius Black was pronounced innocent of all charges after veriteraserum was administered. He was awarded 1,000,000 galleons to compensate for his time in Azkaban. He immediately transferred most of the money to Remus' vault, as he had resigned from Hogwarts after some nasty howlers.

Sirius was granted custody of Harry, Cass, and after presenting some evidence of Draco's abuse, Draco. Draco Malfoy became Draco Black. Narcissa went under protection of the Black family as well. Over all, this was the best school year so far for the trio. You couldn't say the same for Dumbledore though.


	5. Moody, Not Just the Teacher

**'Sirius Black Innocent!**' was the blazing headline on the Daily Prophet. Voldemort wasn't happy. Then again, he was never happy. He was a psychopath. But he was angry. The DMLE would be searching for pathetic Peter Pettigrew, so he wouldn't be able to use his arm for the potion. His only faithful Death Eater he had contact with was Bartemius Crouch Jr., but he was going to be the spy at Hogwarts to get Potter into the tournament and to the graveyard. Perhaps a jailbreak was in order?

Dumbledore wasn't happy either. Sirius Black had gained guardianship of Harry, and would most likely warn Harry about him. That was why he'd had Sirius locked up in the first place: to keep him out of the way. Yes, Dumbledore knew that Sirius wasn't the secret keeper. He had made the godfather's vow after all, and if you broke it, you would die.

And then there was the dreaded TriWizard Tournament. It was at Hogwarts. If any contestants died he'd be in very deep water. Then, there was the new DADA professor. Alastar Moody, the ex-auror. He didn't agree with Dumbledore's ways and was perfectly fine with killing Death Eaters. Too bad Dumbledore didn't realize that the Moody who would be teaching would be an imposter.

Sirius had gotten free tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, courtesy of Fudge trying to suck up to his remaining followers. While Sirius hated Fudge, he wasn't one to complain. The tickets were for the top box, the best seats in the house. Narcissa had decided to stay behind, afraid of seeing her ex-husband. Draco didn't care though. He wanted to see the Quidditch game. Krum was the seeker for Bulgaria, and he was rated the best seeker in the world.

They opted to go by portkey since Draco didn't know how to act like a muggle–at all. They headed to the campsite to set up. Remus and Sirius showed the trio how to set up the tent the muggle way, since they were the only ones who had ever gone camping. This, of course, led to questions.

"When did you go camping Uncle Sirius?" asked Cass.

"Well, it was the marauders camping trip. We went after graduation to celebrate. It was a marauders trip only. Let me say, Lily wasn't happy about not being able to go. I went to go pick James up and we got into a bit of a jam…" Sirius continued the hilarious story involving the muggle police, a flying motorcycle, and Remus fighting a grizzly bear. The trio was skeptical about the last part.

They headed up to the top box and sat next to a house elf, which was quivering in fear. "Are you afraid of heights?" asked Cass softly. The house elf nodded.

"Why are you up here then?" asked Harry.

"Probably she was asked to save a seat for her master," responded Sirius. Draco nodded in agreement. They all purchased omnioculars and put them up against their eyes as the game began. Draco had the omnioculars replay almost everything until he realized that he was far behind the actual game.

After the Bulgarians scored, some veelas came out onto the field and began dancing. Sirius was drooling over the edge of the railing, and Harry and Draco were trying to jump out of the stands. Remus and Cass managed to haul them back to their seats though. Cass was grateful that werewolves were immune to the veela charm, otherwise the boys might have all fallen over the edge. The referee was yelling, and the veelas turned into fiery birds. Harry, Draco, and Sirius suddenly realized that they were being held by their collars to avoid them jumping over the edge. The leprechauns quickly made a rude sign from the Irish side of the stands.

After Krum had caught the snitch, they ran into the Weasley twins, who were cheering loudly as Bagman handed them some money. Draco sauntered over and said, "That's leprechaun gold, and it's not going to make you rich." The Weasley twins immediately began to chase after Bagman, who was retreating quickly, shouting insults at his back. Ron, who was off to the side, didn't seem to hear Draco, and was hastily scooping up the coins that Fred and George had dropped, muttering about new dress robes.

They headed back to their tent to have dinner. Sirius had insisted on barbequing the muggle way. This resulted in several burnt hot dogs and hamburgers. They then went into the tent, which had a bathroom, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. Cass had claimed the smallest bedroom as her own, while the four boys were crammed into a room with two bunk beds. The three children fell asleep quickly, but Sirius and Remus stayed up to talk with the other adults.

It was around midnight when Cass had to use the bathroom. She was heading back to bed when she heard screams. She peaked through the flap of the tents and saw Death Eaters raiding the campsites. She woke Sirius and Remus up first. They helped shake Harry and Draco awake. "Hide in the forest," Remus said sternly. The trio ran towards the forest.

A few minutes later the dark mark lit up the night sky. The Death Eaters fled. The trio was heading back to camp when they saw Ron Weasley surrounded by aurors. "I didn't put up the dark mark!" shrieked Ron. "I just lost my wand anyways." Bagman came out of the woods holding the form of the limp house elf from the stands.

"This your wand?" Bagman said gruffly, shoving the wand in the elf's hand towards Ron. Ron nodded. The house elf woke up and rushed over to Crouch.

"Winky has failed! Winky is so sorry, Master!" cried the house elf.

"Crouch!" shouted Bagman.

"It wasn't Crouch. It was obviously Potter. He's turned dark you know," announced Ron. Bagman began to bob his head up and down.

Crouch snorted. "You just blamed the two people who want You-Know-Who dead the most. Harry Potter and me." Sirius and Remus chose this time to arrive and drag the children away. They never found out what happened next.

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The Hogwarts Express pulled up into the station, and the children eagerly hopped off while chattering with their friends. In the Great Hall there was only more chattering. Dumbledore had announced that the TriWizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts that year. The Weasley twins began talking eagerly about an aging potion to get past the age line Dumbledore had put up, but Oliver Wood was weeping over the fact that there would be no Quidditch that year. Marcus Flint didn't care about Quidditch, he was laughing at the crying Oliver Wood. Ron Weasley was bragging to Dean and Seamus about how he would enter the tournament. It seemed everyone was talking about the tournament.

Then, there was a loud thunderclap, and a man with a claw for a foot, a madly spinning eye, and missing a chunk of his nose, clunked into the room. Everyone stared. "That is you new DADA professor! Ex-auror Alastor Moody!" announced Dumbledore. Ron began talking avidly about flying trash bins, but the rest of the school settled back down.

Harry had glanced over at the Ravenclaw table when he saw a pretty girl: Cho Chang. Cho glanced over at him, and he immediately spilled pumpkin juice all over himself. Cass and Draco began guffawing. As they headed back to the dorms, Harry took one last glance at Cho Chang. Would she like him if he won the tournament?

The students had gathered by the Black Lake to see the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Beauxbatons arrived first in what looked like a flying house. Draco quickly pointed out that the Madam Maxine would make a perfect match for Hagrid. The Durmstrang ship rose straight out of the Black Lake, creating a whirlpool. Draco saw Victor Krum and immediately wondered out loud if he could have his autograph.

The students from France were shivering, shawls pulled over their heads. Apparently, they weren't used to the cold weather. Draco nudged Harry, and he glanced around to see Ron Weasley drooling over a pretty girl. Draco was drooling slightly too. Harry appreciated her looks, but he also liked Cho. Cass wasn't pleased with all the squealing Victor Krum fan-girls and the drooling teenage boys who were staring at the part-veela girl. She stalked off into the castle. The boys didn't notice.

Bartemius Crouch was confounding the goblet of fire to pick Harry Potter when the other schools arrived. He figured it would be easier to do when nobody was around. Not even Dumbledore was inside the castle! He wasn't expecting Cassiopeia Black to come running around the corner, breaking out on her face in angry red splotches. He stopped confounding the cup and slid his wand into his robes.

"I hate this TriWizard tournament," said Cass flatly. The fake Moody nodded absently. He was planning on making the tournament a whole lot worse. He didn't listen to her ranting about veelas and Victor Krum, instead, he slipped a way with the goblet to confound it elsewhere.

Unlike the Death Eater, Luna Lovegood was perfectly willing to listen to Cass's rant. When Cass had finished, Luna began to talk about nargles. By the time the other schools had entered the castle, Cass had subscribed the Quibbler and was talking to Luna about the Rotfang conspiracy. The fake Moody had finished confounding the goblet of fire.

The goblet of fire was in front of the head table, ready to fling out the champion's names. Dumbledore cleared his throat as the first contestant's name was spat out of the goblet. "Fleur Delacour, Beauxbatons," he announced. Another slip of paper flew out. "Victor Krum, Durmstrang." The next name came out. "Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts." The Hufflepuffs started to cheer. Then another name came out. "Harry Potter," said Dumbledore quietly.

Harry slowly walked to the room where everyone was waiting, only to be insulted by Fleur and the other headmasters. When he went back to the Slytherin dorms, he was obviously grumpy. His housemates knew better than to bother him. If he'd have been in Gryffindor he would have been mobbed the second he went through the portrait hole. "I reckon someone wants to kill you," was the only thing Draco said. Harry silently agreed.

Cass had been drifting away from the two boys. She needed another girl's company. She had found a friend in Luna Lovegood. Currently, they were wandering around the Forbidden Forest looking for nargles. Cass believed in Luna's silly creatures, she was a type one seer as well. Seers could often see magical creatures that didn't exist to anyone else.

"Those definitely aren't nargles," said Luna quietly as they came upon a clearing. No. They definitely weren't nargles. They were dragons.

"Four for each champion," whispered Cass. They ran back towards the castle. Draco and Harry turned the corner and nearly ran into Cass and Luna. "Draco, Harry, this is Luna Lovegood," said Cass. Luna said a dreamy hello.

"Are you replacing us?" asked Draco teasingly. Cass rolled her eyes.

"There are dragons in the forest," said Luna dreamily. Harry's eyes widened.

"You mean I have to fight a dragon?" shrieked Harry. Luna nodded absentmindedly. That night, Cass and Draco sat in the common room with Harry.

"You should speak parseltongue to the dragon," commented Draco. "Dragons are in the same family as snakes after all."

"Plus," added Cass, "there wouldn't be a chance of you getting burnt to a crisp." Harry nodded. He had no intention of speaking parseltongue. He was going to impress Cho. He was going to use fancy spell work to fight that dragon. That would definitely impress Cho.

Harry was pulled out of Potions by a terrified Colin Creevey to have his wand tested. Colin ran the other way as soon as possible. He was obviously scared of the Slytherin. The other champions were waiting with the headmasters and Ollivander. Krum's wand was proclaimed to be in working condition after the old wandmaker griped about the fact that Gregorvitch had made the wand.

After Ollivander mused over Fleur's wand core being a veela, which answered the questions about the staring, Cedric's wand was tested. "Nicely polished," Ollivander noticed. Harry glanced down at his wand and rubbed it against his robes. The wand burst out some sparks. Fleur glared at him disapprovingly. Harry's wand was tested and given back to him, and they got into place to take pictures. The photographer immediately dragged Fleur up to the front, obviously taken by her. Karkaroff was scowling, and kept trying to put Krum in the center. Harry and Cedric were perfectly content not being dragged in front of the camera. The photographer wound up taking pictures with each of them in the front, though he admittedly took more pictures of Fleur than anyone else. Harry was very grateful to leave.

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The champion's tent was quiet, and all the contestants were very nervous. Except Harry. He was going to fly a broom past the dragon to get the egg. That would impress Cho Chang. When it was his turn, he walked into the arena with his wand out. Cass, Draco, and Luna leaned forward in their seats. He summoned a broom and hopped on. Harry flew back and forth, trying to get the dragon to get off the ground. The dragon began to fly, and Harry swooped in to get the golden egg. Unfortunately, the dragon noticed. As Harry was leaving, the dragon sent its tail grazing by his arm, leaving a small gash. Harry didn't care though. Cho Chang was smiling from the stands. She was obviously impressed.

His friends weren't. After Madam Pomfrey treated his wound while muttering about vicious dragons, Cass and Draco stormed into the room, Luna opting to stay by the entrance. "What were you thinking!" yelled Draco. Harry looked to Cass for support. She slapped him hard across the face.

"You're an idiot," Cass said, and she stomped away, Luna drifting along behind her. Draco gave Harry a glare and stalked off. Harry didn't understand why they were so mad. He had won! He barely got hurt! He impressed Cho Chang!

Bartemius Crouch was very pleased. If the tournament continued with Potter foolishly risking his life, the Dark Lord might not even have to kill the boy-who-lived!

Ron Weasley confronted Harry after he left the hospital tent. "You stole my spotlight!" Ron Weasley yelled.

"What spotlight?" asked Harry rhetorically.

"I could have been in the spotlight and nearly gotten killed by a dragon to get the girl!" shrieked Ron, stomping off. Harry rolled his eyes.

The next few weeks passed, and Cass and Draco still weren't talking to him, and he was no closer to finding the clue for the next task. Then the Yule ball was announced. Harry was nervous, but he was going to ask Cho Chang to the ball. "Cho," he said nervously as he stopped her in the halls.

"What?" asked Cho.

"Willyougototheballwithme?" asked Harry quickly.

"Sorry, I'm already going with Cedric," Cho replied. Harry frowned. All champions needed a date to the ball. Who would he ask?

He followed Cass into the Slytherin common room and cornered her. "Will you go to the Yule ball with me? Cho Chang turned me down," Harry said. Cass turned bright red and looked like she was going to slap him again.

"No," she said angrily. "I'm already going with Theodore Nott." Cass stomped off. Draco glared at Harry from across the room.

"That's not the way to ask my cousin out," Draco said moodily, heading out of the common room.

It was the day of the Yule ball, and Harry still hadn't gotten a date. He headed to the Great Hall only to find out that the champions had to have the first dance. He glanced around to see if any girls might be able to dance with him. He found himself looking over at Cass, who was yanking a blushing Daphne Greengrass towards Theodore Nott. He walked over to her. "I'm busy trying to set Teddy and Daphne up," she growled.

"I need a partner for the first dance. Please?" Harry pleaded.

"Alright," Cass muttered. The opening dance didn't pass pleasantly. Cass was glaring at Harry the whole time and purposely stepping on his feet.

"Why are you and Draco acting like this?" Harry asked finally.

"Well," started Cass, "maybe you decided to risk your _life_ just to impress a girl. And then you didn't even realize that you could have died!" Cass shoved him away and headed towards the grounds. Harry settled down at the refreshment table, fuming.

Cass sat next to Luna outside on the bench. "Draco still hasn't noticed me yet," said Luna dreamily. "The nargles must be clouding his brain." Cass nodded.

"I think Harry has wrackspurts," Cass commented. Luna silently agreed. Rita Skeeter flew in her animagus form over to the fountain where Hagrid and Madam Maxine were sitting. Luna noticed.

"There are more wrackspurts around here," said Luna, batting her hands in the air. Rita Skeeter swerved to avoid being whacked by Luna's hands. "Come help me Cass." When Cass joined in Rita flew off. She couldn't avoid the kid's hands forever. She guessed that she'd have to do another story. Maybe on the second task?

Luna finally decided that Harry was having too much trouble with the clue. She started talking about merpeople while walking by. Harry overheard and headed straight to the bathroom to listen to the clue underwater. He knew the bubblehead charm, so he figured it wouldn't be that problematic. But what would he miss the most?

He only realized that he had missed DADA class after a Hufflepuff girl started crying when telling about Moody demonstrating the unforgivable curses. Harry was glad that he had missed it.

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Harry cast the bubblehead charm and dived in. He found the merpeople quickly. A little blonde girl, Cho, Parvati, and Cass were tied up. He recognized Parvati as Krum's date to the ball, and figured that the little blonde girl was Fleur's sister. He looked at Cass and Cho, and tried to decide who was his hostage. Cass had been his first friend. Cho was his crush. Just a crush, Harry realized. Ron Weasley had finally said something true. He had risked his life to impress a girl. A girl who he barely knew. He began to feel horrible about pushing Cass and Draco away. He made his decision and headed up to the surface.

Cass came up to the surface spluttering. Cedric came up a few second later with Cho. Cass looked at Harry and nodded slightly. "Empath," she whispered in his ear. She had forgiven him. Now Draco just had to forgive him. That was much harder. Draco apparently was mad that his cousin had been used as Harry's hostage, thus being put in danger herself. Luna wound up pulling him to the side to talk to him. Draco stopped avoiding Harry, but he wasn't very quick to forgive.

A month before the final task sent a crying Draco into the common room. "They ruined it!" Draco sobbed.

"What?" asked Harry.

"The quidditch field! It has…HEDGES!"

"It's probably for the final task," Harry said.

"But still!" cried Draco, "The quidditch field!"

"It isn't the end of the world," Cass exclaimed, looking up from her book. "Speaking of the end, the final task is coming up. It might want to be a good idea to master your animagus form, Harry."

"Yes," agreed Harry, "we have only managed to transform about halfway. It also might be useful, after all you say someone is trying to kill me." For the next three weeks, the trio worked on getting the full transformation. At the end of those weeks, Draco was able to grow fur and paws, but he couldn't transform his head or shrink. On the opposite side of the scale, Cass was able to transform her head, shrink, and grow a tail. She couldn't get her fur yet. Harry was able to transform almost all the way, all he was missing was the feathers on the underside of his left wing.

Harry was taken out to the quidditch field with the other champions to learn about the task. "You will have to go through the maze and grab the champions cup! You will face several beasts on the way, provided by Hagrid," Bagman explained. Harry was understandably worried. Hagrid didn't exactly have safe animals. He had made them raise Blast-Ended–Shrewts, which were aptly named, whenever you got near one they blasted fire at you.

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Cass woke up the morning Harry was supposed to compete in the tournament with a horrible headache. She had dreamt that Mad-Eye Moody was keeping a clone in his trunk. It wasn't even a usual dream either. The edges of the dream appeared to be in a green-white mist. Cass grasped her book on seers and flipped through the pages.

_Empaths, type 1 seers, are able to sense strong emotions or feelings, and sometimes even thoughts of others. Empaths are occasionally able to have what are called "dream flashes". These dream flashes show important facts about the present. Then only occur four or five times in a type 1 seer's lifetime. A green-white mist surrounds dream flashes. Side effects are intense headaches, periods of unconsciousness for a week after the dream flash, and with intense dream flashes, sometimes death. An Empath is usually born every thirteen years. There are discrepancies, however._

_Prophesizer, type 2 seers, are unable to have dream flashes. They can tell the future with tarot cards and make prophecies. They go into a trance-like state and have a deep voice when reciting a prophecy. The prophecy is immediately recorded in the department of mysteries. If there is no witness the prophecy is often not activated. Not all prophecies come true. 11% of all prophecies don't become true. When they aren't proven true, they explode into dust. Prophecies are often very vague, but have specific people in mind. The seer will have no recollection whatsoever of the prophecy. Most seers make around ten prophecies in a lifetime. If the seer makes more than three strong prophecies they will most likely die. There is only one Prophesizer every 100 years._

_Stargazers, type 3 seer, all centaurs are Stargazers. They can predict the future in the stars. _

Cass jumped out of bed and grabbed a bottle of headache reliever. She had to discover why there was a Moody clone in his trunk. She headed over to the Ravenclaw dorm and rapped on the door with the knocker.

"What goes up and down the stairs without moving?" asked the knocker.

"A railing," answered Cass. A hole opened up in the wall. The Ravenclaw common room was pretty empty, and Cass checked the time. The third task was starting in twenty minutes. "Luna?" she called. Luna came down the stairs of the girl dorms. "I had a dream flash," said Cass simply.

Luna had only had one dream flash, the one where her mother had died. Dream flashes were never good. She followed her friend towards the DADA classroom. Cass kept going and unlocked the door to the office. There was a seven-compartment trunk in the center of the room, and Cass conjured a set of keys and turned the locks. In the bottom of the seventh compartment, Moody was lying on his back, chunks cut out of his hair and his eye and leg missing.

"Polyjuice," Luna whispered. The Moody who had been teaching them DADA that year was a fake. He must have been the one to enter Harry in the TriWizard tournament.

Meanwhile, Harry was looking around the stands for Cass and Luna. Draco had told him that they hadn't shown up at breakfast. Then the final task began. Harry headed into the maze. After a half hour of facing different animals and spells, Harry heard a scream from across the hedge. The burnt a hole through the hedge and saw Cedric being held under the cruciatus curse by Krum. Victor's eyes were blank, and it was obvious that he was under the imperius curse. Harry stunned Krum and helped Cedric to his feet.

"Thanks," said Cedric. The two headed off on separate pathways again. He came across a sphinx and answered the riddle, only to find Cedric about to touch the cup–with an acromantula right behind him.

"Cedric," yelled Harry, "behind you!" Cedric whipped around to face the acromantula. "Tarantallegra," cried Harry and Cedric at the same time. The acromantula promptly tangled up its legs and fell to a giant heap on the ground. "Together?" asked Harry.

"Together," said Cedric, and they grabbed the cup.


End file.
